Earned
by California Kat
Summary: Summary: Eric and Sookie must adjust to being the parents of an adult as Hunter comes of age and finds love of his own with Emma. How will the Viking vampire and the fairy deal with new threats when their son becomes the target? Earned is the third main part of the Back & Forth Universe, which began with Back & Forth and continued with Come Back to Me.
1. Chapter 1: Graduation

Earned

 **Summary:** Eric and Sookie must adjust to being the parents of an adult as Hunter comes of age and finds love of his own with Emma. How will the Viking vampire and the fairy deal with new threats when their son becomes the target? _Earned_ is the third main part of the _Back & Forth Universe_, which began with _Back & Forth_ and continued with _Come Back to Me_ (with _Sojourn_ being an interlude set within the timeframe of _Come Back to Me_ ). Those stories should be read before this one. 

**Context:** The wedding in _Come Back to Me_ takes place on November 8, 2014. (Hunter was ten and Emma was eleven.) _Earned_ begins in June 2021. (Hunter is seventeen and Emma is eighteen as _Earned_ begins.)

 **Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No profit has been made from this work. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. The events in this story have been inspired by _True Blood_ and the _Southern Vampire Mysteries_ book series.

 **Many thanks:**

To Kleannhouse—for always being willing to lend your eyes to my work.

To Sephrenia—for gifting me with your art.

 **Chapter 01: Graduation**

* * *

 **O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;**

 **It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock**

 **The meat it feeds on.—Shakespeare's** _ **Othello**_ **, Act 3, scene 3**

* * *

 **JUNE 2021**

 **COBY POV**

Coby Bellefleur had been one of the first to arrive at the high school auditorium that evening. After all, he needed to make sure he got a good seat for the graduation ceremony that would be beginning within the next hour. He positioned himself so that he would see the stage and the graduates perfectly.

At twenty-three years of age, Coby Bellefleur was considered a catch by most of the girls—and some of the guys—between the ages of 18 and 30 in Renard Parish. He'd graduated from high school at the top of his class and had earned a partial scholarship to LSU where he'd also finished at the top, obtaining _two_ Bachelor's Degrees—one in environmental science and one in chemical engineering—in only four years.

He would be attending his own graduation ceremony—this time for his Master's degree in environmental science—the next week. He already had a job lined up—one that would be earning him seven figures a year—with LePaul Industries, a huge oil company which had recently bought the formula for the most efficient and the cleanest gasoline ever developed.

Coby smiled a little and he sat up straighter with pride. He had been the chief architect of that formula. Even if very few people in his Podunk hometown of Bon Temps realized it yet, _his_ research was going to revolutionize the gasoline business. Although his process would probably quadruple gas prices, taking them to more than twenty dollars per gallon, his formula would also raise the efficiency of gasoline significantly. Thus, cars would soon be getting about 100 miles per gallon. Moreover, the use of his gasoline would lower emissions to almost nothing—in almost any car or truck, no matter its age. And this fact would certainly satisfy those who currently held the most powerful positions in the United States' government, for they had almost all run on a platform of environmental responsibility.

Global warming had become a huge issue, especially during the previous half decade, as many of the low-lying areas around the coast of the United States had to be virtually abandoned due to almost-constant flooding. Also, two years before, New Orleans's levees had once again failed to withstand a high-category hurricane. After that, it had been decided that the lowest lying districts of the city would not be rebuilt at all, and many of the citizens of NOLA had moved inland to Baton Rouge and Shreveport, though other people left the state altogether.

Lower-lying areas on the East Coast had also been pounded, and there were still parts of Lower Manhattan and Long Island that were flooded from the last major hurricane to go through that region.

Coby's smile changed to a smirk. Twenty years before, an idea like his would have been squelched by the oil business. Hell—he may have even been killed for having it! But desperate times were leading to many, _many_ changes around the world—most of them spearheaded by affluent vampires, whose investments in alternative energy sources had changed much of the political landscape around the globe.

And Coby was right in the thick of those changes—thanks to Eric Northman, the vampire who had become his benefactor. Eric had always encouraged Coby in a way that no else had or could. From the time that Coby was thirteen, Eric had seen him as a good investment, and he had given him money to cover what his scholarship wouldn't in college. Moreover, even before Coby graduated from high school, Eric had made it a point to send the adolescent to various distinguished summer camps, which fostered his budding interest in science. During the last few years, Eric had also introduced Coby to many important people who had helped him in his studies. Because of Eric, Coby had gotten to travel to many places around the world and to learn from those working on the cutting-edge of both environmental science and the petroleum industry.

Of course, it didn't hurt that Andre Paul—actually Senator Andre Paul now—had also noticed Coby's cutting-edge research. Senator Paul was the CEO of LePaul Industries, which was now headquartered in Shreveport. Senator Paul had lived in Louisiana for a decade or so, and during that time, he had bought and retooled a lot of existing refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. He was a visionary and very anxious to make sure the future was protected, which was not surprising at all, given the fact that he—like Eric—was a vampire.

Coby had met Senator Paul only once—when Eric had helped him to get an internship at LePaul Industries the summer before. Senator Paul had been running for election at the time, trying to become only the second vampire in the U.S. Congress and the first one in the Senate. At the end of that single meeting, however, Coby was pretty much set for life! He'd been offered his dream job with his dream salary.

Indeed, the very ambitious Coby Bellefleur seemed fast-tracked for success and had two very powerful and successful vampires looking out for him.

However, the young man was still miserable and bitter inside.

* * *

Coby sat up a little straighter as he saw Eric Northman enter the auditorium. The high school graduation Coby was attending was being held at night for the sixth year in a row to accommodate vampire guests, mostly because of the fact that the Northmans had donated so much money to the school system, which now rivaled many of the best schools in the country as far as facilities, faculty, and resources went. Coby smiled a little as he remembered walking across the stage to get his diploma as Mr. Northman gave him an approving nod. It had been one of the proudest moments of Coby's life thus far.

That had been the first year the graduation ceremony had been held at night, and Coby knew that the change in schedule had come at Eric's behest.

During his years of attending Bon Temps public schools, Coby had profited greatly from the new additions to the science and computing classes. New buildings had also been built and class sizes had been reduced, all thanks to the Northmans' donations. Many of the nation's best teachers—especially Weres, who'd been fired elsewhere after their reveal—had been recruited. But—despite the fact that his benefactor had always been very kind to him—Coby knew that he was not the primary reason Eric Northman had donated so much money to the Bon Temps school district.

No. That reason was walking right next to him.

Hunter. Fucking. Northman.

The boy with everything.

The boy Coby hated more than anything.

Oh—the two had been childhood "friends," despite their age difference. And Coby hadn't minded Hunter at first; after all, spending time with Hunter often meant spending time with Eric. But that had been _before_ Hunter began to think that he was God's fucking gift to the world. _Before_ Hunter encroached upon _everything_ that Coby wanted—and deserved.

Coby still played the part of Hunter's friend, however. He had gotten very good at the pretense.

Coby was five and a half years older than Hunter, who had turned seventeen in March, but one wouldn't have been able to tell that from Hunter's attitude. The kid walked around like he knew everything. Hell—maybe he did. Hunter certainly _had_ everything—everything that Coby had ever longed for.

However, Coby had not truly envied Hunter until his own dad—well, his stepdad—Terry had divorced his loser of a mother. Coby held in his sneer at the thought of Arlene Fowler.

The split-up had been all Arlene's fault. She was the one that had fallen in with the Fellowship of the Sun, the one who'd had an affair with the minister of that God-forsaken church! And Coby and his sister Lisa had been the ones to suffer the most because of it.

Of course, the minister had high-tailed it from the area the moment he and Arlene were discovered fucking in the choir loft of the Fellowship church in Monroe, but his exit was too late to change the fact that Coby had "lost" the only dad he'd ever really known!

Unless Rene Lenier—the serial killer—was counted!

Hell! Arlene wasn't even certain who Coby's _real_ father was!

At 19, Coby had found out that fact the hard way when he tracked down the man—Joseph Winston—who his mother had always claimed was his father. Of course, she'd also claimed that Joseph—called Joey by Arlene—had never wanted Coby and had left her "high and dry" when he found out that she was pregnant.

For this reason, Coby had always felt guilty for his own "life"—especially when his mother had talked about his biological father leaving because he didn't want to be saddled with a kid.

As if an unwanted pregnancy was the kid's fault!

However, Joseph Winston had not been as Arlene had described. He'd been—for lack of a better word—"nice." Joseph was a successful accountant in Baton Rouge with a kind wife and two kids. Joseph had freely admitted to dating Arlene years before, but he said that she'd never told him that she was pregnant. Joseph and his wife had both welcomed Coby into their home, and for about three months, Coby had a new family in Baton Rouge—a "nice" family. Since Coby was going to LSU, which was also located in Baton Rouge, he had Sunday dinners with the Winston family, and he and his "father" even went to several New Orleans Zephyrs games together since they both loved baseball. In fact, Coby had played shortstop throughout Little League and most of high school until he'd blown his knee during his junior year while stealing home base at the state tournament.

However, it came out during a casual conversation started by Coby's "half-sister," who was taking a biology class in high school, that Coby couldn't be Joseph's son. Coby had O-positive blood, and Joseph had AB-negative. Just to be sure, Joseph had insisted upon a DNA test, but it had only confirmed what simple science had already told them all.

Joseph and the other Winstons swore that it didn't matter and that they already loved Coby and didn't blame him for believing his mother. They also asked him to continue being a part of their family, but Coby didn't want their pity. So he let himself drift away from them within a month, even moving to a new apartment when Joseph kept visiting him. The Winstons had eventually taken the hint.

When Coby confronted his mother with the truth, he got only blank stares and denials, along with a huge fucking guilt trip. So Coby never asked about the identity of his "real" father again. Likely, it would have just led to another fucking disappointment if he had.

Coby did still love Terry, however. In the divorce, Terry had won visitation of Lisa and Coby on the weekends, as well as full custody of Mikey, whom Arlene hadn't wanted at all because he was "a devil baby," according to her, and Rosemary, who had turned seven the month before. Coby just thought that Mikey and Rosemary were damned lucky—since Arlene hardly ever bothered to visit them!

Coby sighed. Despite seeing his stepdad and having a bit of normalcy on the weekends—nothing had been the same following the divorce. Coby had asked to live with Terry several times before he graduated from high school, but his mother always went ape-shit and smothered him with guilt whenever he brought it up.

She'd done the same to Lisa.

Coby sighed again, this time even more deeply. Even though Terry continued to treat him like a son, Coby couldn't help but to wonder if his stepdad still viewed him as his "son." Coby was just glad that Terry had officially adopted him _before_ his mom had committed adultery. It was a small consolation, but Coby was ecstatic he didn't have to be a fucking "Fowler." His mother continued to beg him to change his name to Fowler again, but on that point, Coby was unyielding. He felt that he had so few pieces left of the life he had loved, and his name—his last name, at least—was one of them.

Now that Terry had remarried, Coby felt even more disconnected from his stepdad, especially since Terry and his new wife were expecting a child—a son—in the summer.

Hunter Northman had no such family issues; he had been "chosen" by Eric. And since then, Hunter's life had been as charmed as people found him charming. Coby was the only one who saw Hunter Northman for what he really was—a simpering, arrogant, second-rate fraud, who didn't deserve any of the love or recognition he got.

Despite these feelings, however, Coby kept his face neutral as Mr. Northman and Hunter approached.

"Hey Coby," Hunter said good-naturedly, with his signature lop-sided grin firmly in place. At 6'3", Hunter stood an inch or two below his dad, but about five inches above Coby.

"Hello, Mr. Northman," Coby said nodding respectfully toward the vampire. "Hey Hunt," he continued with an even voice and a practiced smile. Years of hating Hunter had taught Coby how to interact with him with civility— _affection_ even. "I heard the baseball team went to state again this year. Congrats!"

Hunter's grin broadened. "Yep! We came in second in the state tournament!"

Coby took in Eric's proud smile and the hand he put on Hunter's shoulder.

"Still playing outfield?" Coby asked, keeping his voice pleasant and casual.

Hunter shook his head. "Nope. The coach moved me to shortstop this year."

"Hunter has received twelve scholarship offers for his sporting ability and fifteen for academics," Eric said, his obvious pride seeping through.

Hunter rolled his eyes and gave his dad a look that told him to stop bragging.

Immediately Eric threw up his hands in surrender and ruffled his son's hair, something that Coby had seen the vampire do more times than he would have been able to count.

Hunter chuckled, reached up, and ruffled his dad's hair in return.

It was odd to see a powerful vampire accept such affection good-naturedly, but Eric and Hunter had always been close.

Coby had to work hard to keep his envy from showing on his face. He'd not seen his own dad—whom he now called Terry—since he'd gotten into town. His dumbass mother had guilted him into staying with her and her newest soon-to-be husband—which also likely made him her soon-to-be _ex_ -husband.

"Where's Mrs. Northman?" Coby asked politely.

Hunter looked around a bit and then shrugged. "Last I saw her—she was makin' sure the seniors were lined up in alphabetical order."

Coby nodded. Sookie Stackhouse-Northman—called just Mrs. Northman by the high school kids—was well-known for volunteering at school activities.

"Eric! Hunt!" came a voice to the side of them.

"Sam!" Hunter said, stepping up on the bleachers to shake Mr. Merlotte's hand. Sam was holding the hand of his eight-year-old daughter, while Luna Merlotte was trying to wrangle their six-year-old son, Tommy, from a group of his friends.

"Too bad you can't be up there with them," Sam said, gesturing toward the stage area.

Hunter shrugged. He'd graduated "officially" the fall before due to homeschooling, but he'd been allowed to play public school sports and "audit" some regular classes throughout the years, which explained the Northmans' attention to the school system.

"I don't mind," Hunter told Sam. "I'm just glad that I graduated _before_ Emma." There was a twinkle in the boy's eye.

Coby held in his sneer. Not for the first time, he was grateful for his friend, Robin Brunswick, who was a warlock. He had actually been one of Arlene's many former male "acquaintances," though she'd had no idea that he was a warlock, of course. Beginning when Coby was eighteen, Robin had been helping him to keep his increasingly more negative thoughts about Hunter from beaming directly into the telepath's brain—or into Mrs. Northman's, for that matter. That would have been quite _inconvenient_. Coby knew that both Hunter and Sookie did their best not to listen into the minds of family members or friends, and they accepted Coby as one of those, but Coby also knew that it was best to err on the side of caution.

Sam and Hunter were laughing together.

"You'd best not tease Emma too much about beating her to graduation, Hunt. You _know_ how she gets."

Hunter's grin lit up the room. "Yep. And I'm pretty sure Breeta's on her side too." Hunter mock-glared over at one of his Britlingen guards.

Coby looked around. It didn't take him long to find Hunter's guards. Whenever Hunter was out of what his little clan called the _æ_ _tt land_ , he was trailed by at least one of his several guards. Coby had noted them all over the years.

And he'd studied them all carefully.

First and foremost, during the daytime, his mom was with him most of the time, and although Coby wasn't certain what Sookie Stackhouse-Northman was capable of, he was pretty sure it was more than telepathy. Of course, since he was "honorary family," Coby knew all about Sookie's and Hunter's telepathy, but had been glamoured so that he couldn't say anything about it.

Of course, Robin had helped him to get around that little impediment.

In addition to Sookie, Hunter was always flanked by Breeta and Jarod during the daytime. And, at night, Eric was usually with him. And Batanya. And often Duncan or Pam, too.

Indeed, no one in his or her right mind would try to harm Hunter Northman. Coby shook his head a little, wondering if he was in his right mind—because all he wanted to do was harm Hunter fucking Northman.

Mr. Northman suddenly turned toward the auditorium doors. Coby followed the vampire's gaze just in time to see Sookie entering with Lafayette and Jesus. She looked straight up at Eric and winked at him. She was holding Lafayette and Jesus's newborn adoptive child, Susannah—called Sue, on her hip, while the couple's son, Kyle, was already rushing toward Tommy, who was playing with Miranda and Jarod's children, Maggie and Jim. Coby noticed that Mikey and Rosemary were with them, too.

Coby made sure his smile was firmly in place as he took in all the families around him. It seemed as if the world was teeming with happy fucking families!

After handing Sue off to Duncan, who was known for keeping the smaller kids quiet at public events, Sookie made her way over to them. She gave a lingering kiss to Eric and then patted Hunter's cheek affectionately as they seemed to speak to each other with their eyes. For all Coby knew, they were speaking—just through their telepathy.

Next, Sookie turned to Coby and gave him a kiss on the cheek. For a moment—just a moment—she looked at him a little funny. And, in turn, Eric looked at her a little funny. Coby was not certain what kind of connection the Northmans had, but it seemed to be very strong.

"You okay, Coby?" Sookie asked him with real concern—motherly concern—in her voice. Truthfully, he'd heard that tone a lot more from Sookie Stackhouse-Northman over the years than from his own mother.

Coby figured that Sookie had come up against the spell that protected his mind from the telepaths around him, but he was prepared for that. "Actually, Mrs. Northman," he said, his voice lowering a little, "I've been fighting allergies again, but the doctor's got me on some new medicine." He shook his head in a practiced act. "It makes me a little groggy though. Thank goodness my allergies only flare up around Bon Temps. Must be something in the air here."

Sookie smiled at him. "Now, Coby Bellefleur, how many times do I gotta tell you to call me Sookie—or even Aunt Sookie like you used to?"

Coby smiled. "Just one more time, I guess."

"How's your mom?" Sookie asked a little stiffly as she settled into her seat by Eric's side. It didn't escape Coby's notice that the two of them always seemed to sink into each other. They had immediately linked their hands as well. That's what Coby wanted more than anything else—that kind of closeness with the woman he loved.

"Fine," Cody answered. "You know _her_."

Sookie nodded and sighed before patting Coby's arm comfortingly; however, it didn't comfort him. In truth, his mom was getting crazier all the time.

She had become more and more of a bigoted fundamentalist ever since shifters and Weres had made themselves known to the world seven years before. Arlene had basically gone off the deep end after that—as if she couldn't stand for her narrow world to get any bigger. Coby couldn't help but to wonder at his mom's cluelessness. His family had hung out at the _ætt land_ enough to know that there were two-natured beings _long_ before they had officially come out. Heck—not even a year before the Weres and shifters revealed themselves, his mom had attended Eric and Sookie's wedding reception, at which no fewer than ten of the two-natured had been in attendance! And the wedding had taken place on the night of a full moon, too! Coby shook his head a bit. Where had his mom thought so many people disappeared to for a couple of hours? Where did she think all the howling they'd heard was coming from?

Arlene was so closed-minded sometimes that she couldn't even see what was in front of her eyes!

Coby still couldn't believe that his mom had never picked up on the fact that there were Weres in the world—and other things too! Coby had always taken it for granted that she'd known for as long as he had, but the night of the "Second Reveal"—as the media had called it—she'd snapped. She'd quit Merlotte's immediately and had fought bitterly with Terry when he refused to quit his job at RBL, the synthetic blood company which was run by the Northmans and which employed many Weres in the area. And then Terry had also refused to quit at Merlotte's, where he still enjoyed working a shift or two a week.

And that had been the beginning of the end of his mom and Terry's marriage. Right after the Were reveal, any tolerance that Arlene had built up for vampires also disappeared, and she began to attend the Fellowship of the Sun church in Monroe.

And that put her into the hands of the church's minister, who seduced her.

Actually, it was likely that she seduced him!

But Coby wasn't a fucking telepath, so he wouldn't know!

"Hey, son," Coby heard from behind him.

Coby turned and was immediately engulfed into a warm hug from his stepdad.

"Hey, Terry," Coby smiled, genuinely happy for the first time that night.

For a moment, his stepdad looked a little disappointed, and Coby knew it was because he'd stopped calling him "Dad," but it just didn't seem right to do that anymore—not now that Terry had a new wife and a new family on the way.

"Hello Jennifer," he said to the very pregnant woman next to his stepdad. She smiled at him sincerely and moved in awkwardly to give him a hug, her huge belly getting in the way.

Jennifer Robinson-Bellefleur was one more person who had benefitted from the Northmans' generosity. She was a were-badger, who had lost her job right after the Second Reveal. She had been a well-respected and well-liked professor of environmental science at the University of Chicago, but she'd been fired for the same kinds of idiotic reasons many Weres had been fired from their jobs.

For Jennifer, it had been "lying on her resume" and "lying when calling in sick" (on two nights over ten years) when there had been full moons. Jennifer Robinson had moved to Bon Temps and had become one of Coby's high school science teachers and one of his chief inspirations. In fact, it had been through Coby that his stepdad had met Jennifer.

"I talked to your sister this mornin'," Terry said as he took a seat next to Coby. "She's gotta final exam on Monday, so we didn't get to talk long."

Coby nodded. Lisa was a junior at the University of Texas, getting her degree in Secondary Education. It was taking her longer than it had taken him to get through school, but she'd taken after their mom a little too much. She'd had a baby—a girl named Amber—out of wedlock the year before, a child which Terry was currently cradling against his chest in a baby sling. Of course, their mom—the fucking hypocrite—had read Lisa the riot act and had basically disowned her, but Terry had taken over the care of the child without a second thought so that Lisa could continue school in Texas. Jennifer treated the baby as her own, and the last Coby had heard, Lisa wanted her stepdad and his new wife to officially adopt the child—so that caring for the child would no longer be her responsibility.

Yes. It was safe to say that Lisa—who'd relented to their mother and had gone back to using "Fowler" as her surname—really was a chip off of the ol' block.

Coby patted the little baby's back awkwardly. "When is Lisa coming home for the summer?"

Terry frowned a little. "She's not. She's gonna try to get caught up a little by takin' summer school."

Coby nodded, knowing that the only catching up Lisa would likely be doing would be in partying.

Coby was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of music being piped into the auditorium. By some act of magic—probably the real thing, considering the people in the room—the young kids in their group were almost immediately settled down, and everyone turned to watch as the graduates marched proudly into the room.

Coby saw the reason why he had attended the graduation immediately: Emma.

He sighed. Even with her body hidden by her gown and her hair tamed underneath her cap, she was glorious.

He loved her.

As always, however, Hunter fucking Northman stood in the way of Coby's desires. Hunter and Emma had been a couple ever since they were kids. Coby shook his head a little. Emma had never let herself experience any romantic relationships beyond Hunter, but how could Coby blame her? Hunter was probably in her head—telepathically—all the time, saying exactly what she wanted to hear, _manipulating_ her so that she would stay with him.

But Coby was determined to find a way to knock his foe from his fucking pedestal—to eliminate him from the fucking picture!

With Hunter out of the way, Coby would be able to get what he deserved— _finally_. Eric and Sookie Northman would be heart-broken, and they would naturally seek out Coby as a surrogate for the son they had lost. Coby knew that—given the chance—he would make the Northmans much prouder than Hunter ever could.

Most importantly, however, with Hunter out of the way, Emma would be free.

And she _would_ become his—one way or another.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I'm offering this chapter a day early because I'll be busy until quite late tomorrow.**

 **I know that many of you have seen this before since it's very close to my preview chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. I'm very excited to find myself back in the** _ **Back & Forth Universe**_ **!** _ **Back & Forth**_ **was my very first story, so writing in it again is like returning "home" in a way! Because much of this is the same as the previous chapter I gave you long ago, I'll be offering you Chapter 2 tomorrow.**

 **Best,**

 **Kat**


	2. Chapter 2: Young Lover

**Chapter 02: Young Lover**

* * *

" **Once you love, you cannot take it back, cannot undo it; what you felt may have changed, shifted slightly, yet still remains love. You still feel—though very small—the not-altogether unpleasant shock of soul recognition for that person."**

― **Whitney Otto,** _ **How to Make an American Quilt**_

* * *

Hunter _felt_ her before he saw her—thanks to the distinctiveness of her mind.

A beautiful mind he'd become as familiar with as he was his own—a mind that _always_ welcomed his.

He sighed as he took her in—both physically and mentally.

 _His Emma_.

She was so beautiful, dressed in her cap and gown. A sash of yellow around her neck indicated that she was graduating with honors, and her blue collar signified that she was a member of the National Honor Society. In addition, a blue cord showed that she was the Salutatorian of the class.

Hunter sat up a little straighter. He was so proud of his girl—his woman now.

Under her cap, her brunette hair curled down her back in lazy waves, which Hunter knew were natural.

And so goddamned soft it almost made him cry.

He was very aware of the amount of time it took Emma to get ready for her days, and it was about five minutes less than he took. But—in his defense—Hunter always cited his bangs and the need to gel them to within an inch of their life.

His hair had never been what one could call "ruly."

On the other hand, Emma was lucky. She could shower and brush her hair and then just let it dry on its own. An hour later, it would look like she'd stepped out of a salon. In addition, she never wore a stich of makeup—unless one counted the flavored lip gloss that she liked to use to tease him with.

Her current flavor of choice was strawberry.

God, how he loved strawberries!

Hunter had to stifle his groan as his watched Emma's curves during her walk onto the stage. His dad gave him a knowing look, which Hunter immediately shut down with a warning glare. His dad, who was still pretty much the coolest being in Hunter's world, gestured in surrender and went back to holding his mom, who was also pretty damned cool in Hunter's book.

Hunter smiled at his parents. He couldn't imagine two people more in love than they were, and they were his example every day of how he needed to treat his own beloved.

He looked back up at the stage, knowing that Emma would be giving her speech right after the principal gave his standard opening remarks. Hunter had been attending graduations ever since his friends—starting with Coby—began to graduate. He smiled over in the direction of his friend as the principal droned on.

He'd always looked up to Coby, even though the two had sometimes had a bit of a rivalry. Hunter knew that his dad and mom had paid part of Coby's college tuition after he'd hurt his knee during his senior year and had lost his baseball scholarship to LSU. And Hunter had never begrudged the fact that his parents had shown Coby interest; after all, Coby had been his very first "kid" friend in Bon Temps!

That being said, Hunter had still thrived on their little rivalry, which had started when they were quite young—when Hunter was about 6 and Coby 11. They'd both loved fishing and would always try to outdo one another for the biggest catch of the day.

Then, their rivalry had moved on to sports. Coby had been an excellent baseball player, earning all kinds of records for the Bon Temps team and leading them to their first state tournament. Hunter had come along years later and had broken those records.

In addition to baseball, both Coby and Hunter had excelled in science, though Hunter could admit that Coby certainly had him "beat" in that arena. Hell—Coby was set to become a millionaire at age 23 because of his discoveries! In addition, Coby was more ambitious, wanting to take the world by storm. Meanwhile, Hunter was content to settle in Bon Temps.

With Emma.

Darkening their friendly competitions, Hunter had once worried that Coby wanted Emma for his own, but that interest hadn't lasted after Coby went away to college. Thank God! Hunter had once enjoyed the slight rivalry that he and Coby shared, for it was almost as if he had an older brother at times. And—due to his past—Hunter liked any kind of family he could get!

But—with Emma—Hunter would never suffer any kind of competition. Nor would Emma where he was concerned, and that was the way Hunter liked it!

She belonged to him—just as he was completely hers.

Emma no longer being an issue, Hunter could once again relax around his friend. In fact, no longer feeling the need to compete with his older "sibling figure," Hunter simply felt proud of Coby's accomplishments.

"And now—Miss Emma Merlotte, our Salutatorian!" Hunter heard Principal Williams say.

As Emma rose and went to the center of the stage, Hunter couldn't help the fact that a loud sigh escaped from his lips. She was so damned beautiful, and Hunter knew every curve that her robe covered.

Well—at least— _almost_ every curve.

There were a couple more that he couldn't wait to explore!

Hunter felt his heart beat quicken and his pants tighten.

His dad gave him another look, and although Hunter would never regret the fact that Eric Northman was his father, he did sometimes dislike the fact that his dad was a vampire—a vampire who was able to discern _every time_ he felt aroused by his girlfriend—which was pretty much all the time!

But what straight adolescent boy with a gorgeous girlfriend could say any different?

At least his sissy, Pam, wasn't there to tease him. Thankfully, his dad had banned her from the event.

As Emma began speaking, Hunter got a little lost. Her voice was the perfect mixture of lightness and sultriness, and her eyes locked upon his several times as they ostensibly swept over the crowd. Hunter had heard her speech a hundred times, as she'd practiced in the treehouse he'd build for them when they were thirteen and fourteen respectively. They were now—perhaps—too old for a tree house, but it was their private zone, and they'd gotten _a lot_ of mileage out of it, even with their guards omnipresent.

Thinking of Emma's guard, Hunter took a second to make sure that Clovache was close enough to his beloved. He sighed when he saw that she was. No one had ever tried to attack Emma directly, but Hunter was ever-vigilant about making sure that one of the three Britlingens living on the _æ_ _tt land_ was always with her.

Assured of Emma's safety, Hunter smiled and let himself slip back into his memories of his beloved. Indeed, they'd shared a lot of wonderful times in their treehouse. And—yes—that had included a lot of physical explorations. But the two of them had also talked about everything up there.

And the most important of those discussions?

Two years before, they'd decided—while lazing on the familiar planks of the treehouse and studying the stars—to get married. Hunter already had a ring picked out and in his dresser. He planned to ask Emma on his eighteenth birthday.

They had also decided upon other things while in the treehouse. They were both going to be starting at LSU in the fall. Hunter would be studying chemistry and business, while Emma was going to be studying art history. Hunter wanted to become a part of his dad and Grandpa Niall's business—RBL (their synthetic/fairy blood business)—after he graduated, and Emma wanted to become a high school art teacher.

Both Hunter and Emma were very firm about wanting to stay close to their roots and families—close to home. And they eventually wanted to settle on _the ætt land_ ; of course, unbeknownst to Emma, Hunter knew that their parents were planning to have a house built just for them on the newest patch of land that his mom and dad had added to their property, which now encompassed about two hundred acres. Of course, Hunter wasn't supposed to know about their soon-to-be-built house either, but it was difficult to keep "big" things from a telepath.

As Emma shared a secret smile with Hunter as she spoke, the young man had to stifle a groan.

In the treehouse was also where Hunter had learned about passion—with Emma leading the way. Luckily for Hunter, his dad had always been open about the issue of sex, and he'd learned a lot about treating a girl like a queen by watching how his dad treated his mom. Plus, he was literally surrounded by other good examples. There were Uncle Lafayette and Uncle Jesus, Miranda and Jarod, Uncle Jason and Aunt Jessica, Uncle Duncan and Batanya, Uncle Claude and Hadley (Hunter's birth-mother), Uncle Henry and Aunt Tara, and Alcide and Maria-Star. And Sam and Luna were a pretty kick-ass example, too.

In fact, the only person whom Hunter couldn't really look to for love advice was his sissy, Pam. Hunter never knew from one minute to the next if she was _with_ Molly or not! And Hunter was not naïve. He knew that his sissy had a lot of "fun" with people she met at Fangtasia.

So—yes—Hunter and Emma were lucky in the number of good examples who surrounded them. And they were lucky that their parents were willing to talk to them about matters like sex. (Well—except for Sam, who liked to think that Emma was still a little girl most of the time.)

In fact, when Hunter and Emma were thirteen and fourteen respectively, they'd been sat down by both sets of their parents, and a long talk about sex had ensued. Basically, their parents had talked them into waiting until they were _both_ eighteen before they had sex.

Back then, they'd not been ready for sex anyway, so promising had been easy; neither he nor Emma had hesitated.

Hunter shook his head a little—ruefully.

Hunter had come to realize that his thirteen-year-old self had made a promise that his seventeen-year-old body was having a difficult time keeping. But he and Emma were trusted to keep that promise by all of their parents. And neither of them wanted to break that trust. Thankfully, after the first French kiss that Emma had ever laid upon him—which had left him in a daze—his dad and he had had a talk about masturbation, something that Hunter had become more and more skilled at from his extensive practice throughout the years.

Meanwhile, he and Emma kept their touching of each other confined to rules that they had set for themselves, and the treehouse afforded them privacy. In fact, all of their parents—including Sam—had agreed that a privacy spell could be raised around it. And his and Emma's guards agreed to always stay outside of the spell's confines unless there was some immediate danger.

The rules that he and Emma had made for themselves were simple. Clothing from the waist down had to stay on; they wanted to see each other completely nude for the first time when they had sex for the first time. However, clothing above the waist had been "removable" since Emma's eighteenth birthday. Hunter felt himself getting a little flush as he looked at the curves in the upper part of Emma's graduation gown.

Hunter had enough experience seeing women in bikinis to know that Emma's breasts were not overly large compared to others', but they weren't small either. To Hunter, they were pretty much perfect.

He sighed again and felt the need to readjust in his seat. In addition to seeing Emma's beautiful upper body, their "rules" stated that hands and mouths could be used above the waist. Hunter intended to use both later that night after Emma's graduation party on the _ætt land_. On the other hand, only hands could be used below the waist, and those hands could be placed only above clothing. However, right before Emma had turned eighteen, his dad had explained to Hunter—confidentially, of course—that there were _a lot_ of ways to make sure that his beloved was _very_ happy with just his hands.

And with the grinding of other parts of this body—which was NOT against the rules.

Hunter again shifted in his seat as he thought about his girlfriend's hands and what she could do with them. Whenever Emma touched him over his jeans or shorts, he was always left very, _very_ happy. In fact, he'd had to start keeping fresh clothing up in the tree house so that he could change after Emma's touching was over.

So—yes—sticking to the rules had been difficult, but Hunter was glad that he and Emma had decided to do just that. Hunter wanted their first time to be special, and he didn't want them to have to hide the fact that they'd had sex either!

Not believing that sex should be seen as a bad thing, his dad had taught Hunter that physical love was natural and should be celebrated. And Hunter intended to do just that—as soon as he was eighteen.

However, until the next March—which, at the moment, seemed _way_ too far away—he was content to keep doing what he'd been doing with Emma.

Frustrated, but content.

Hunter shook himself out of his musings about sex with difficulty (after all, he was a teenaged male), and he focused back on Emma's words. He'd heard them so often that he began to mouth them with her, and he was able to tell where every inflection would be, though she still managed to sound quite natural.

Hunter couldn't contain his wide, proud smile as Emma finished her speech with a look of triumph right in his direction. As always, he blushed a little as her expression shifted to that special smile reserved only for him.

And she blushed right back as he stood and whistled, which encouraged the others in their "family" group to stand up and clap as well.

Emma shook her head as if to chide them all and then motioned for them to sit down so that the choir could begin their song.

Hunter watched Emma move back to her seat with the grace of the cheetah that she'd been shifting into since her adolescence began.

Hunter would never forget the first time he'd seen her in that form. They'd been hanging out around the fire. Luna and Sam liked to come to the _ætt land_ to run at the full moon since there was so much room and it was completely safe for them there. Hunter loved to watch all the two-natured people he loved take their animals forms, so he was always allowed to stay up a bit later on full-moon nights.

At the time, Emma had yet to shift, so they usually just sat around the fire with his mom and dad while they waited for the others to return, but one month before Emma's fourteenth birthday, she suddenly began to shimmer a little. And then—just like that—she was sitting before him as a beautiful cheetah! She'd literally left him dumbstruck in that moment—not that she didn't amaze him on a daily basis (even back then).

Emma and he had talked many times about what she would be when she finally shifted, but—in the end—she'd decided not to try to influence the change. According to Luna, a shifter would assume his or her most "natural" shape the first time he or she shifted. Luna's first shift had been into a horse, which was still her preferred shape. Sam's had been a dog, which he usually still ran in. Jarod's had actually been a dingo, but he now changed into a lion because of Miranda.

And—of course—Emma's biological father had been a Were, so it was possible that she would take that form, whether she herself was a Were or a shifter.

The look on Emma's cheetah face had matched an expression that not very many had seen on the little human girl's face before. Emma was naturally a confident person, but she had told Hunter every one of her anxieties and fears—just as he'd done with her. So Hunter knew every single look she had, and the look of trepidation—of needing to be accepted—which had been on her face right after her first transformation had threatened to twist Hunter's heart to shreds.

Hunter hated that look on his Emma, so he'd moved quickly to get rid of it. Though he sensed that his parents were a little afraid that Emma might not be able to control herself in her animal form, Hunter knew better from the look in her eyes. He'd sunk to his knees before the adolescent cheetah and had raised his hand to her cheek. Her eyes had softened, and she'd leaned her head into his hand, purring loudly.

God—how Hunter had loved her in that moment of trust between them. The rest of the world could have fallen away, and neither of them would have noticed.

But no matter how lovely Emma was in her cheetah form, his favorite moments were the ones where they were lying on the quilts he'd put down for them in the treehouse. They could look up at the stars since he and his dad had put in a removable roof.

And they always lay quietly together for a long time after they had finished touching one another—something they already referred to as making love, despite the fact that they'd not yet had intercourse.

They would leave their shirts off so that they could feel each other's warmth and flesh. Emma would snuggle into his chest—which had been made strong by years of sword practice with his father. Or on cooler nights, they would snuggle under the quilts with him spooning her body. In either case, the scent of her hair—like jasmine on a summer's breeze—encompassed him.

And—after a while of silence—they would always talk about their plans for the future: the wedding they would have in just over a year, the children they hoped to have together (and when they wanted to start having them), the places they wanted to travel, and how they were going to keep safe through it all.

Hunter had a vague memory from when he was five or six—from the time after he'd come to live with his dad but before his mom had returned from the Fae world. In the memory, the A.P.—his now-deceased Grandma Brit—said something about his future being bright and containing more love than sorrow. She had also said that he would one day find a great love—but that he would have to earn it.

Hunter did everything he could—every day—to make sure he was worthy of Emma's love. But part of him worried that he'd not yet had to "earn" that love as Grandma Brit had said he would need to.

"Min son?" his dad said, looking at him with a little worry in his brilliant blue eyes. Hunter was one of the few that his dad showed his "real" eyes to, and Hunter had always found love in them. Now he found concern, too. He swore that sometimes his dad was the one with telepathy when it can to him and Mom.

"I'm fine," Hunter assured as the names of the graduates began to be called. There were only thirty-two graduates in their little community that year, so it wouldn't take them long to get to "Merlotte."

Hunter looked back down toward where Emma sat and saw that she was looking up at him again, and in that moment every single one of his own worries went right out the window.

* * *

 **A/N: So—I hope you enjoyed hearing from the "near"-adult Hunter. I imagined what the young Hunter from** _ **Come Back to Me**_ **would have grown up to be like with our Eric as a father and our Sookie as a mother. And then I knew. He would be family-centric and confident, but he would also be kind. I think I love this character to the point that I might have created as him "too good." But he does have some flaws, including being too trusting. Anyway, I hope you will tell me what you think about Hunter. I've never done anything like this story—aging a child to an adult like this. I was really hoping—during these first two chapters—to show two very different young men.**

 **I also wanted to write a note about the "sex decision" by Emma and Hunter. Honestly, I'm well aware that many young people have sex before they are 18 nowadays, and I don't think that 18 is a magic number either. Some people are ready earlier. Some aren't ready until later (I was 19, by the way—and, even then, I made a bad choice and wish I would have waited until later). I just advocate that no one allow pressure to make his/her decision for him/her. However, to make sure that I don't get in trouble on the sites that I post on, I made the choice that Hunter and Emma would not go all the way until they are both 18. And—honestly—I think this is a good choice for them.**

 **Anyway, I hope you will tell me what you think of this so far!**

 **Best,**

 **Kat**


	3. Chapter 3: Pawn

**Chapter 03: Pawn**

* * *

" **The isolated pawn casts gloom over the entire chessboard."—Aaron Nimzowitsch**

* * *

Coby sighed softly as he saw the expression on the face of the girl that he'd loved for years. She was a picture of beauty. Her brown curls—which he could only imagine would feel like silk to his touch—flowed over her shoulders and back, though many of them were hidden underneath her graduation cap.

The Bon Temps High School graduates were arranged behind the main podium so that they were all facing the audience, which Coby was thankful for. That meant that he'd not had to take his eyes off of Emma during the entire ceremony.

Her brown eyes crackled with an enlivening sparkle, and the look of love in them set Coby's heart ablaze. However, that look was not directed toward him, so his cheeks also flushed with jealousy.

"You okay?" Terry asked him.

"Sure," Coby whispered to his stepdad. "It's just a little hot in here, and I wore this," he said casually as he pointed to his suit. In actuality, the fabric was quite light-weight fabric, but heat was a convenient excuse. "And my allergies are acting up too," Coby added for good measure.

Terry just nodded, though there was a knowing look in his expression that concerned Coby. On more than one occasion, Terry had hinted that he thought that Coby might be interested in Emma Merlotte—the one girl in the whole county who had never been even remotely interested back. But Coby had managed to deflect any concern that Terry might have had by dating other girls or shrugging off the idea of Emma.

After all, _everyone_ knew that she belonged to another—to the boy who was currently sitting one row ahead of him next to his perfect father and his perfect mother.

The boy who was on the receiving end of the look from Emma that Cody wanted to be _his_ more than anything else in the world.

Hunter. Fucking. Northman.

Oh—Coby had heard all about Hunter's so-called "bad years" when he lived with his birth father and then his birth mother, Hadley, whom he still got to see, though Coby was not privy to how or where.

Coby had never been totally "in the know" about the Northman family. He knew that Hunter and his mom both had telepathy, thus the need for Coby's mind spell.

And, of course, he knew that Eric Northman was one of the oldest and most respected vampires in the entire country. But he had no idea of the extent of Eric's businesses or influence.

Still, Coby remembered well the times that he'd gotten to spend with Eric over the years. That was _certainly_ the best part about hanging out with Hunter when they were younger.

As far as Coby was concerned, Eric Northman was the coolest father anyone could have—though he did love Terry. But—seriously—how many dads could freakin' fly?

And Hunter's mom was light years better than his own. Sookie was always cooking something good, usually with Lafayette at her side! Coby's own mother wouldn't know how to boil a pot of water if someone turned on the stove burner for her, and her idea of a healthy meal was getting Merlotte's versus McDonald's. His stepdad was always the cook in their family.

When they'd still had a family—that is.

Plus, Sookie was just _nice_ , and she was also incredibly supportive of Hunter, whether it be with academics or baseball or anything really. Arlene had attended _none_ of his games after the break-up with Terry. And she'd talked about homework like it was a punishment.

Coby held in his discontented look with difficulty as he glanced at the Northmans and then at the Merlotte's, who were all looking at Emma with intense pride.

He'd not gotten a look of pride from his mother when he graduated from high school _or_ college. No—she'd acted like attending his graduations had been chores for her. He'd hoped that Arlene—as he was now beginning to call her both at home and in his head—would finally show her approval when he told her about his new job, but he'd seen no pride in her eyes.

Instead, he'd seen nothing by dollar signs when she'd asked what he'd be making at LePaul Industries. And then she'd gone into a long diatribe about how her car wasn't running right and about how her roof was leaking.

And about how a good son would take care of his mother.

Coby couldn't help but to wonder if the mother had to be "good" in order for the son to be "good."

Coby was brought out of his musings by the most beautiful name in his world: "Emma Martha Merlotte." He watched as she went to collect her diploma, even as she smiled up toward the area he was sitting in; however, once again, her gaze fell a row lower than his eyes.

Coby closed his eyes tightly—not even able to enjoy seeing his beloved!

Hunter fucking Northman ruined everything!

It was fucking torture to see Hunter with the life he wanted, the life Coby was owed because he'd had to endure the shitty one that had been dealt to him for long enough.

He knew that _that_ life—the good life—would have been his life if Hunter had never come along. Oh—he didn't think his mom would have married Eric. Nothing like that.

But Eric wouldn't have had his attentions stolen away by Hunter. Eric had obviously wanted a son figure in his life, and Coby _would_ have been that figure.

If not for Hunter.

Coby could still remember the time— _before Hunter_ —when the "family" group had gathered at Merlotte's to watch a football game. Eric had told him stories of his past and had clearly enjoyed Coby's company. There had been promises of fishing trips and the like—and, though these activities would have included the whole group (even before Hunter came along)—Coby felt certain that Eric's main motivation in arranging such outings would have been to find someone to fulfill his need to have a child.

Coby would have done that.

Gladly.

It would have been _him_ learning woodwork and swordplay. And Hunter would have never been there to take away Emma's attentions. Coby had liked Emma even when they were kids, despite their age difference—a difference that no longer mattered now that she was eighteen. Sure—she'd not had as many life experiences as Coby had, but he was more than willing to teach her and guide her into adulthood. He just hoped that Hunter hadn't already stolen her virginity as well as everything else. But he figured that Sam Merlotte would have made sure that didn't happen.

Coby inhaled sharply as Emma waved toward their little group. For one moment, her eyes touched his as her smile lit up the whole auditorium.

Coby wasn't going to stop until he got what he deserved—the life that had been stolen from him: Hunter Northman's life.

* * *

"You are certain that he'll cooperate?" Andre Paul asked. He'd spent too fucking long moving into a position where he could take his revenge on Eric Northman to have everything ruined by some human.

The warlock nodded. "Yes, sir. For as long as I've known him, Coby has hated Hunter Northman and has been fixated on the sheriff. In fact, he seems fixated on _everything_ related to the Northmans.

Andre narrowed his eyes. "As long as he can get me close to them, I don't give a damn about his fixations."

Robin Brunswick shrugged. "You have to admit the boy is intelligent in his own right— _and_ useful. He's going to be making your company a lot of money."

Andre smiled. "Yes. It _was_ quite clever how you used your spells to influence the boy to bring his research to _me_ —and not take it to Northman. Knowing Eric, he would have started a new business around Coby Bellefleur's formula."

"The sheriff is quite savvy with business," Robin remarked somewhat cautiously.

Andre looked down his nose at the warlock. He hated working with lower beings, but the warlock was clever with mind enchantments and—most importantly—easily bought.

Andre came across Robin Brunswick in his research of Area 5 nine years before. And the warlock had already been of some use. From Robin, Andre had bought a spell that would partially cover his own scent so that Northman would not be able to pick up his connection to Sophie-Anne. Andre hadn't been particularly worried about that since Northman's senses were not thought to be particularly acute, but he was extremely old, so Andre didn't want to take any chances.

Andre had next used Robin to research Northman's circle of friends since the warlock lived in Monroe, a community relatively close to Bon Temps. The innocuous-seeming Robin was able to infiltrate a circle of witches that sometimes did work for Northman. After that, Robin was useful in getting close to Arlene Fowler, a dimwitted member of the Fellowship of the Sun church. She had been part of the Northmans' circle of friends until she joined the church following the "Second Reveal."

The relationship between Robin and Arlene lasted only long enough to get Andre what he truly wanted—a way in.

Though Arlene had long been estranged from the Northmans, they still took interest in her children, especially Coby. The boy—unlike his mother—had recognized the "otherness" in Robin and had been excited to hear that he was a warlock. Robin had—at Andre's request—been giving the boy mind enchantments for the better part of the last four years.

Yes—despite his status as a lower being, Robin _had_ been useful. Using one of his mind spells, the warlock had been able to counteract—at least to a certain extent—some of the glamouring that the young man had undergone. From his spell, Robin had been able to learn that Hunter Northman was a telepath too—just like Sookie Northman.

Andre, of course, had been told about Sookie's telepathy more than a decade before—by his maker. He stifled the urge to lower his fangs at the thought of his beautiful mistress, Sophie-Anne. He would have done anything for her, but when he'd asked her if she wanted him to secure the telepath, she'd told him, "No"—that the matter was already well in hand.

She'd asked that he stay in the Middle East, where he had several profitable businesses and where it was unknown that he was a vampire at the time. His wealth, gained from the oil business, pretty much kept his maker's monarchy financially afloat, especially during her last years when her tastes became more and more extravagant. But Andre was happy to send her almost every penny he made. He loved her and hated to be separated from her by so much physical distance, but he understood where she most needed him.

And that was for his ability to make money for her.

Andre still remembered the pain of feeling her die; halfway around the world, he'd been awoken from his day-death from the agony of the experience.

Bill Compton had been the one to actually do the deed; Andre had found that out by bribing Nan Flanagan. And, later, Andre had learned that his maker's death had involved the telepath Sophie-Anne had told him about; thus, Andre figured that Northman had a hand in it too.

Sadly, by the time Andre could make his move to the United States, he was too late to take his revenge upon Bill Compton.

But that just made him want to make Eric and his telepath suffer all the more!

However, much to Andre's frustration, Eric Northman's defenses were virtually impenetrable.

To do business in Area 5, Andre had needed to go through Northman—and that meant meeting with him personally.

Thankfully, Northman didn't know about his connection with Sophie-Anne, and Robin had already created the potion that covered up any similarity Andre's scent had to his maker's. Still, Northman had been suspicious of Andre, wondering why he was choosing Shreveport to settle in, instead of New Orleans or even Baton Rouge, which were closer to his oil rigs. Andre had used the Senatorial seat coming up for election as his excuse. Louisiana—thanks in part to the profitability of the vampires in the state following a string of major hurricanes—had become quite progressive, and Andre inserted himself into the community, just as his maker had taught him.

He won the Senate seat by a landslide, becoming only the second vampire Congressman. Of course, the Vampire Act _would_ limit him to only two terms as a Senator (so that he couldn't serve "forever"), but Andre hoped his "business" with Northman would be completed _well_ before then.

He steadied his resolve. He _would_ fulfill the desires of his maker—no matter how long it took. He _would_ secure the telepath; actually, he now planned to secure _both_ of the telepaths. And then he would turn them—though he'd start with the woman to ensure that her telepathy stayed active after the turning. He also planned to keep Northman under silver chains forever, just so that the once mighty Viking would know that he was using—actually _misusing_ —his "so-called" wife and child.

As if a vampire should ever befoul himself by marrying a human! By claiming a human child to the point of giving the brat his name!

Andre sneered.

To the outside world, he seemed like a champion of vampire-human-Were-shifter equality. But on the inside, he was anything but. He wanted nothing more than for the _true_ order to be established, an order which would clearly reflect that vampires— _by right_ —were the top of the food chain, both literally and figuratively. He planned to use his Senatorial seat to make sure that happened a little more every night.

But he had to be subtle.

He had to kiss human babies right up to the moment when he drained them dry—once humans became what they were meant to be: cattle.

"So, what now?" Robin asked, breaking Andre from his dark thoughts.

"For now, we keep using Coby Bellefleur to get information about the Northmans. And we continue to look for a vulnerability—an opportunity. The boy was invited to the shifter's graduation party on the Northmans' property—was he not?"

Robin nodded. "Yes. But Coby does not intend to go."

"Why the fuck not?" Andre asked, his fangs clicking into place.

"Calm the fuck down," Robin said, almost earning him a draining for his insolence.

Andre growled and looked ready to send the warlock into the closest wall.

Robin paused and intelligently changed his tone to one of more respect. "Andre, we aren't even sure that Coby can get onto the Northman property any more. Remember how the protection spell would _not_ let Arlene in after she'd become a Fellowship member? We need to find a way to _covertly_ test whether Coby can still enter. Otherwise, his intent will be known, and the Viking will question him."

"Haven't _you_ found a way to get through the barrier around the Viking's home yet?" Andre asked impatiently.

"No," Robin shrugged. "And I won't either. You need to understand that. I have never before encountered the kind of magic that surrounds that place. It contains more than just human magic. There is witch magic and demon magic too—and maybe even Fae magic."

Andre sighed. "I don't need excuses. I want results!"

Robin spoke reasonably. "You won't get those results by becoming impatient now, Andre. However, with Coby's help, I think that—in time—we can get our hands on Hunter or maybe his girlfriend, whom we could use to entrap him. And, in turn, Northman and his wife. We just have to wait for an opportune time to strike."

Andre scoffed. "I am losing patience with waiting for this opportune time you speak of," he growled as he rose. "I will give you one more year before I look for help elsewhere. And trust me when I tell you that you will not survive past the last day of that year if I am not satisfied with the outcome of our little project," he threatened even as he left the room.

Robin shivered. If he had known how fucking nuts Andre Paul was, he would have never taken his money—or his initial phone call, for that matter. As it was, Robin hated the fact that Coby Bellefleur would likely be a casualty of Andre's plot to take revenge on Sheriff Northman and his kin.

Robin liked the kid—though his mother had been unbearable.

The warlock shivered. Having to date her—and to bed her—had been difficult to stomach—to say the least!

But Coby wasn't a bad kid. Oh—he had his own obsessions, but Robin knew that those were because of a rather large chip on his shoulder.

Robin could empathize. His own family had rejected him. And, worse, they'd feared him because of the power that he'd inherited— _from them_!

It wasn't his fault that that power had been latent in their bodies!

Robin sighed. He had been trying to point out the young man's worth to Andre—beyond the plot against Northman—but when it came down to it, Robin knew that he _would_ hide behind Coby if he had to in order to escape from Andre's fangs.

In the end, Coby was a pawn.

And Robin liked to think of himself as a bishop.

However, what really made Robin shudder was the possibility that Sheriff Northman might learn that he was on the chessboard at all! If that happened, Robin knew that he wouldn't last the fucking night!

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and made a call to Coby. He needed to make sure the kid was calm and ready.

They needed to plan their next move.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter of Earned. A lot of you commented on Coby's obsession after the first two chapters. And a certainly agree with the fact that he is mentally unstable. But now we learn that he's had some help in feeding his "crazy." So Andre is going to be a part of this story. You might remember that Back & Forth began after Bill had killed Sophie-Anne. Eric actually had nothing to do with it—though he had locked up Sophie-Anne in the cage and threatened Hadley as the queen watched. Still—Andre partly blames Eric. I'm assuming that his maker told him about having Eric sell the V and about the fact that she was gonna be using Eric as a patsy with the Magister. Regardless, Eric (and his family) are the only targets Andre can find for revenge.**

 **Just FYI, my Andre is going to be very different from the one in the books. We never saw Andre on the show, and—since this story is originally a "show" story—I am going to be taking a lot of liberties with the character. Think handsome and charismatic—much more than creepy. Robin has been a "fun" character to conceptualize too. Anyway, I hope you liked it!**

 **Until next week,**

 **Kat**


	4. Chapter 4: Roots & Wings

**Chapter 04: Roots & Wings**

" **There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings."—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe**

Emma's graduation party had lasted well-past midnight, and the yard around the main house on the _æ_ _tt land_ was still full of decorations and the debris that seemed to be created even at the most organized of gatherings.

Eric looked at the stack of graduation presents, which Emma had received. Many of them were things that she would need for college—including a new laptop from her parents.

The vampire smiled to himself. He and Sookie had given Emma her present the night before; it was summer travel arrangements for her and Hunter to tour France, somewhere that Emma had wanted to go ever since she'd "been forced" to learn French in school—as she put it. Unlike Hunter, who now spoke five languages (including French), Emma had absolutely no ear for learning other languages; however, she'd worked relentlessly to earn good grades in her French classes. It was a testament to her stubbornness and resiliency, both excellent qualities in a mate—if the vampire said so himself.

And he did.

All of the party guests, save four, had already gone, while Hunter and Emma had retreated to their own private retreat—the treehouse.

"What do you think they're doing up there?" Sam asked somewhat pensively as he gestured toward the treehouse, which was just beyond the tree line to the north of the farmhouse—about a hundred feet from where the four remaining guests were located around the fire pit.

Breeta and Clovache were standing as sentries right outside of what Sam knew to be the boundaries of a privacy spell around the treehouse.

"Hunter is likely giving your daughter one hell of an orgasm— _if_ I have taught him my lessons correctly," Eric said to the shifter with a straight face as he handed him a fresh beer.

"Eric!" Sookie yelled, glaring at her husband.

Sam immediately went ashen as the beer bottle broke from his tight grip.

The vampire chuckled.

"Honey," Luna said, trying to comfort her husband, "Eric is just teasing. You and I both know that Emma and Hunter are sticking to their rules."

Sam growled a little and leveled a glare at Eric. "If _your_ son takes _my_ daughter's virginity, I'm gonna . . . ." Sam paused in his rage.

"Tsk, tsk," Eric sounded, brushing Sam off with a gesture meant to both comfort and to antagonize the shifter. Eric had become an expert at those where his friend was concerned. "You know that he will not—not yet at least," he said with a smirk. "Hunter will honor his word to us all, as will Emma. And—most importantly— _he_ honors _her_."

The vampire reached into the nearby cooler and handed Sam another fresh beer—as a peace offering of sorts.

Personally, Eric thought it was asinine that his son should wait so long to claim his bride. If living during the vampire's human days, Hunter and Emma would have been married years before, and he would have already had a couple of grandkids, but times had changed, and Sookie and Sam had both been insistent about trying to ensure that Hunter and Emma didn't have sex "too early."

Sookie had made a convincing point by referencing her own case, for—though she'd waited to have sex out of necessity because she could "hear" the deviant thoughts of the young men around her—she was now glad that she'd been a little older when she'd lost her virginity.

The Viking didn't like to think of whom she'd eventually lost it to, so he didn't let his thoughts go there, beyond momentarily recalling the satisfying feeling of staking Bill Compton.

Of course, Eric couldn't imagine that Sam had waited until his was eighteen to start fucking, but he could empathize with the shifter's protective impulses, nonetheless.

The vampire could only imagine the kind of havoc he would create if he had a daughter who was being sniffed at by a marauding teen!

The chastity belt she would wear would be a mixture of silver, iron, and steel—in order to make sure that no species could get through it!

A double standard?

Yes. Most certainly.

But Eric figured that fathers were allowed such things.

However, that acknowledgment had not stopped Eric from telling Hunter about many pleasures—just short of intercourse—that could be done to a woman in order to provoke physical nirvana.

Of all the four parents present around the fire, only he and Luna knew the kids' specific "rules" for their intimacies. He'd offered to tell his mate after Hunter had discussed them with him, but Sookie didn't want to know. Eric figured Emma had never offered to tell the "rules" to Sam—given his prudishness where she was concerned.

In Eric's mind, the "kids" were being extremely careful and respectful of both each other and their parents' wishes. And he was grateful for the honor and integrity both were displaying. On the other hand, he wanted them to have fun as they explored each other, so he had not been shy about sharing a few "techniques" with Hunter—techniques he'd tested out for centuries and was still working to perfect with every encounter he had with his own mate.

Eric had also given Hunter a few of the more "instructive" books written about the topic of sex throughout the years. But Sam didn't need to know about those— _or did he_?

It might be amusing to see just how many beer bottles he could get the shifter to crush that night. His previous record for an evening was four.

Sookie, feeling Eric's mischief through their bond, gave him a warning look, which—of course—enflamed him to want to take her inside and enact something from one of those books.

Or maybe _more_ than one something!

Even after many years together, Eric felt complete in only one place—buried inside of his wife.

With both cock and fang.

Sookie felt his lust through their now completely fused fairy and vampire bonds, and she gave him another warning look, even as she playfully sent him a spike of lust of her own through their shared connection. "Later," she whispered into their bond.

" _Soon_ ," he clarified with a projected thought of his own, though he did manage to put his lust to the side—at least for the moment.

Meanwhile, Sam was taking deep breaths in and out with deliberate speed as Luna rubbed comforting circles upon his back. Eric chuckled at his shifter friend; he'd often been amazed throughout the years with just how much he'd grown to like Sam Merlotte, especially since the man had once had romantic inclinations toward Sookie. However, Sam had proven to be a good husband to Luna and an admirable father to his three children. And he'd never treated Emma any differently from the children who shared his blood.

"Sam," Eric said, knowing that it was time that he let him off the hook, "you and I both know what it was like to be seventeen or eighteen years old, and I'm sure that neither one of us can say that we were virgins at that age," he added significantly. "But Hunter and Emma have made the choice—and the promise—to remain so. And they _will_ hold to their word. Both of them are honorable. Both of them are steadfast. And _neither_ of them is like we were when we were their ages," he jibed good-naturedly.

Sam calmed, as Sookie sent gratefulness through the bond.

But Eric wasn't quite done with his teasing. It was just too fun. The vampire continued. "Yes—they will most certainly have their _fun_ up there."

Sam tensed, and another half-drunk bottle of beer was lost.

"But," Eric paused as he reached into the cooler, "neither of them will push things too far. You know this. You know what value and love they have for each other _and_ for their families. You have helped to raise a beautiful and wise girl, but integrity is Emma's greatest asset."

Sam nodded, even as he swelled with parental pride and accepted another beer. "And Hunter is a good boy." He chuckled. "If anything, he's probably the one talking Emma out of breaking their promise."

Luna and Eric shared a look. Sam had no idea how right he was. Emma had wanted to call off her and Hunter's promise the year before, but Hunter had held firm; now both teens were determined to wait until Hunter was eighteen.

Of course, learning to pleasure each other in "creative" ways hadn't hurt when it came to their "patience."

"So," Luna said, clearly wanting to change the topic, "Emma's decided to keep it small."

The other three parents immediately knew what the "it" referred to.

Luna continued, "They want it to be here—on the _æ_ _tt land_."

Unsurprised, Sookie nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!" She smiled brightly. The news made her ecstatic! After all, she was pretty certain that her child would be getting married only once, and her own wedding reception on the _æ_ _tt land_ was one of her best memories.

"They've set a date," Luna informed, looking at Sam to make sure that he was still taking the information in stride.

"The last weekend in June," Eric said, having heard the news earlier—from an ecstatic Hunter.

"Yes," Luna confirmed, increasing the pressure of circles onto Sam's back.

Sam took a deep breath and then a long drink. "Well then," he said with a shake of his head and a little smile, "it looks like we need to get going on the plans for their house."

Eric returned the shifter's smile and reached over to pat him on the back. "That sounds like a plan."

"Do you think we can keep the house a secret from them until the wedding?" Luna asked.

Sookie shook her head. "Not from Hunter—even if the construction occurs only while Emma and he are away at school. Hunt is really good about keeping out of the heads of people he knows—at least, most of the time—but it's still almost impossible for a human to surprise him with a present. It's like—the more excited the human is about something—the more likely it is that Hunter will pick up on it. And we all know that Lala and Jesus are _already_ excited about what we're planning." She scoffed. "And Jason's mind might as well be yelling the news. In fact, I'm pretty sure Hunt knows about the house already."

"Then I think we should tell them both," Eric said firmly.

Sam went to speak, but Eric kept talking. "That way, they will have some choice in the layout and the design of things. It will be _their_ house, after all. Plus, you know that they plan to come home most weekends, and the implements of building are difficult to hide."

Sam pouted. It had been his idea to keep the residence a surprise. "Fine," he relented, though the beer bottle in his hand didn't quite survive the concession.

* * *

Hunter twined his fingers with Emma's as she lay against his side.

They'd already enjoyed twin orgasms, created by an intense session of making out and grinding against one another.

Keeping their "lower" clothing on might have been one of their rules, but the thickness of that clothing wasn't specified, and they'd found a _very_ thin silk nightgown for Emma and _very_ thin silk pajama pants for Hunter folded neatly in one of the corners of the treehouse when they'd arrived.

The note on the garments had said only one word: "Enjoy."

The handwriting had been unsurprising; it was Eric's.

"I love your dad," Emma said dreamily.

Hunter chuckled. "Should I be jealous?" he asked, even as he placed a kiss onto her forehead near her hair line.

"Hmm. Well—your dad _is_ gorgeous. And my tastes _do_ seem to run to tall blonds," she teased.

Hunter moved his fingers to tickle her.

Immediately, she began trying to wiggle away from him. Given the fact that she was a shifter, Emma was stronger than Hunter in some ways, though his fairy blood and his training with his father had certainly helped to even the scales.

Still—it wasn't long before Emma had Hunter at her mercy, and she straddled him and dug into his sides, where he was most ticklish.

He twisted underneath her in a way that soon led to touches that were quite different from tickles. And that led to more grinding.

"God I love silk," Emma moaned as Hunter pulled her to him and took her lips with his own.

"And I love you," Hunter groaned against her lips.

Having learned and practiced together many times throughout the years, the two teens kissed like seasoned lovers, even as their hands began to move in exploration and conquest.

Despite the thin barriers that still separated their bodies, Hunter was able to grind his engorged member against her clit, even as he stimulated her breasts with his hands. Emma had always been "easy"—in that her body reacted quickly and intensely to his touch.

And, of course, being 17, Hunter didn't need a lot of stimulation for his own body to go off like a rocket. Thus, it wasn't long before the young couple was gasping for air and once again temporarily spent in their passion for one another.

"What did your parents say?" Emma asked after they'd calmed down a little.

"Hmm?"

"About school," she clarified. "About us living together."

"Dad was all for it," Hunter relayed. "And he made compelling arguments to Mom when he brought up security."

Emma smiled against his chest. "So we have them?"

"Well—it took some more convincing from Dad, but he found the perfect house for us in Baton Rouge—plenty big for our guards, too. And Mom liked it."

"So she agreed?"

"Yes," Hunter replied. "But with some conditions."

"Of course," Emma chuckled.

"Mom insists that we have separate bedrooms until I'm 18. _And_ also curfews—even from each other," he chuckled a little. "And if our studies suffer, she says that even more rules will be imposed."

"We can live with that," Emma smiled, "until the end of March."

Hunter nodded in agreement. "They're gonna work on your dad over the summer—a little at a time," he relayed. "And my mom is gonna tell your mom about the plan next week—so that she can help them convince him," he added with a chuckle.

When Hunter and Emma had decided on which college they wanted to attend, both teens had initially wanted to stay in the dorms—to experience "normal" college life. However, they were practical enough to dismiss that idea pretty quickly. With Britlingen guards, living in the dorm would be complicated at best. And then Hunter's dad had dropped the bombshell that they'd be getting a few additional guards too—a couple of Weres and at least one vampire. And the Weres would actually be attending their classes with them, too!

Again—so much for having a "normal" college life.

Of course, neither of them had had a "normal" life thus far, and both were pretty damned happy.

Happier than they had a word for, in fact—despite Hunter's five languages.

Upon that realization, Hunter and Emma began to come up with a plan to live together—even before they got married, which they planned to do right after their freshman year. After all, living in the same place was _practical_ , and—though they'd wanted to share a bedroom from the start—neither was surprised that they wouldn't be able to.

Emma leaned up and smiled at Hunter. "So what is the house like?"

"It was originally a larger house, but now it's been broken up into apartments. Dad thinks that your dad will be more inclined to that idea."

Emma frowned. "So we won't actually be living together? We'll be in separate apartments?"

Hunter chuckled. "Only technically. There are three stories to the building and two apartments on each level. The vampire and our personal guards will be on the first floor, we'll get the two apartments on the second floor, and the Weres will get the third, and the whole place will be warded, of course."

Of course, Emma didn't need to be told whom Hunter was referring to when he said "personal guards," though Breeta and Clovache were a lot more than guards to them.

Hunter continued, "Either Breeta or Clovache will always be on duty on our floor—of course—but you know they'll give us our privacy. And it's not like we'll have to lock our doors or anything, Em," he added. "I'm pretty sure it's the best we can do _for now_ —especially with your dad having to approve."

Emma sighed. "I can't wait till we get married."

"Me either," he agreed with a grin. "Only a year away."

She smiled softly. "Still too long, but at least we have a date picked out now."

"That we do, min raring," he said.

"I love it when you call me that," she sighed, even as she drew a heart pattern on his chest.

Hunter smiled in return. His father had taught him both Old Norse and Swedish, and he'd used the endearment "raring" for Emma for many years. The word was a little old-fashioned, but the phrase meant "my dear," and Hunter liked how the endearment sounded like the English word "rare," too, for Emma was the rarest of beauties in his eyes.

* * *

"How was the party?" Hadley asked, looking up from the quilt she was working on. Her quilts were in great demand in Faerie proper, though she was still living in the "in-between" place—now called Dùraig—so that the time differences between the human and fairy worlds wouldn't affect her ability to see Hunter.

Not that _he_ seemed too excited by his visits with her anymore.

"Fun!" Adele beamed. "Emma looked so pretty! And Hunter gave me a shoulder-back ride!" the eleven-year-old girl enthused.

"That's nice," Hadley said as she smiled at her precious daughter, even as she tried to keep a close reign on her thoughts. Over the years, she'd managed to use the empathy that was her fairy gift to create what she called "blocks," which were similar to Sookie's shields.

Hadley was now a strong enough empath to deliberately influence as well as to gauge the feelings of those around her. Hers "blocks" couldn't shield her thoughts from a telepath bent on accessing them; however, they did work to make those around her _not_ desire to read her thoughts at all.

They were like a wall of deterrence to the telepaths in her life.

In addition to her "blocks," Hadley had gotten good at compartmentalizing her emotions; thus, when Adele and Claude were around, she concentrated on only her positive feelings. Of course, there were many things for her to be truly positive about.

For one, she had a good husband. Though a small part Hadley sometimes wondered if Sophie-Anne was the love of her life, she'd been happy with Claude, and the two had married five years earlier. Claude had been patient with her, waiting until she was ready for both the physical and emotional attachments that marriage would entail.

And Hadley had been— _mostly_ —quite content with him. Claude had a calm demeanor and a way of making her feel very special, indeed, when the two were alone. He was also a wonderful father to Adele, but there was a part of her that knew that Claude would never truly understand her.

That's why Hadley felt as if she needed to hide a part of herself from him—in order to ensure that he didn't stop loving her.

"I'll get Adele to bed," Claude smiled as he leaned down to kiss Hadley's cheek. "She's a little wound up, and you look to be in the middle of a complicated section of your work."

Hadley nodded as she looked down at the quilt in her lap. "Yes. Are you going into the realm tonight?" she asked.

"For a bit," he said.

Hadley nodded in understanding. She envied the fact that Claude could go into Faerie proper for short periods of time without experiencing the time discrepancies between the human and fairy worlds. Niall could do the same.

Meanwhile, Hadley was stuck inside of a relatively confined zone—though Dùraig was about half the size of the town of Bon Temps.

However, Bon Temps had always felt tiny to her—suffocating.

Hadley's consolation was that several human-fairy hybrids and even a few full-blooded fairies had moved to Dùraig when the small community had been established. Included in this group of community members had been Hadley's closest friend, Katherine, who worked with Sookie to organize a school attended by fairy-human children from the human realm.

Hadley made sure that her "blocks" were up as strong as possible as she let thoughts of Sookie enter her mind. Her feelings about her cousin had always been ambivalent, and that hadn't changed over the years.

In fact, in some ways their relationship had grown more "complicated."

Sookie had never ingested the light-fruit, so she was not tied to the Fae world, and—though Hadley had reconciled herself to never returning to the human realm—a part of her missed it. She was also jealous that Claude went there several times a week—to visit with "family" and to continue his work cultivating human crops so that they could grow in Faerie. Moreover, Adele often visited with him, too.

Hadley closed her eyes tightly. Claude and Sookie still used the Fae words for "brother" and "sister"—"tanu" and "tanah"—to refer to each other. She sighed, recognizing for the millionth time that she was jealous of their relationship. The two were confidants, and Hadley often wondered if her cousin knew her husband better than she did.

Hadley scoffed. Sookie _certainly_ knew Hunter better. And that was another reason why Hadley had mixed feelings towards Sookie. For some reason, giving Hunter up to Eric Northman had not been difficult for Hadley, but knowing that Sookie now enjoyed more love from Hunter than she did—despite the fact that Sookie wasn't his goddamned mother—made Hadley's skin crawl.

Who had carried him for nine months?

Who had spent years keeping his existence from someone she loved?

Who had tried to give Hunter a life where the Supernatural wouldn't touch him?

NOT Sookie!

Of course, Claude—always logical—had reminded her many times that Sookie was Hunter's day-to-day mother—and that they had a lot in common, including their telepathy. However, Hunter's preference for Sookie still stung.

Hadley shook her head, even as she acknowledged that she—too—had a preference: one for Adele over Hunter. But she couldn't help but to wonder if that was because Hunter had been _appropriated_ by Sookie.

"Get your own damned kids! Oh—wait—you can't!" Hadley wanted to yell aloud whenever she witnessed an affectionate moment between _her_ son and Sookie. But Hadley didn't let this feeling "out" when they were around.

And part of her hated herself for having the feeling at all.

After all, a part of Hadley truly did appreciate Sookie for being a good mother to Hunter. Hadley had never been particularly comfortable around her son, for he reminded her of the mistakes she'd made during her younger days. And he also reminded her of the things that she'd lost.

Hadley sighed. She couldn't even remember "making" Hunter, nor could she recall most of her time being pregnant with him because her drug habit had been uncontrolled back then.

Later, she'd wanted to be a good mother—had wanted to protect him—but as soon as Claudette had kidnapped her and brought her to the fairy realm, she'd failed him again.

Yes—in many ways, she _did_ see her own failures whenever she saw Hunter.

Oh—that wasn't to say he'd not turned out well. He was handsome and strong. And he was smart, too—at least that's what Niall and Claude always said. Apparently, her son had inherited Claude's aptitude in science and Eric's and Niall's prowess in business.

And Hadley _was_ proud of him, though she couldn't help but to wonder just what he'd inherited from her.

"You are troubled," Claude said as he walked into the room.

"Is Adele asleep?" Hadley asked, even as she made sure her "blocks" were as strong as she could make them.

Claude nodded. "Yes." He came to sit next to her. "Why are you pushing me out?"

Hadley sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just—I don't want you to think badly of me."

"I love you," he assured.

"I know," she smiled. "But do you really want to hear about how I'm jealous that you and Adele got to share in the family celebration tonight—while I was stuck here?"

Claude frowned and put his hand over his wife's affectionately. "I do not ever want for you to feel stuck, my love."

"I know," Hadley said honestly.

"Are you happy?" Claude asked.

"Yes," Hadley quickly assured. "And I'm trying not to think of the things I lost when I ate the light fruit," she sighed. "I try to concentrate on what I've found, but sometimes—well—it's difficult."

Claude leaned forward and kissed her. "I don't have to work tonight. It can wait."

Hadley shook her head. "No—go ahead. I'm fine. Just feeling a little sorry for myself tonight," she shrugged. "Maybe because I'll likely never meet Emma, and she's bound to be my daughter-in-law one day."

Claude gave Hadley another soft kiss before he stood up.

He wished that he could "cure" her whenever her moods darkened, but he knew that there were some things that even love couldn't fix. And he also knew that giving her a little time and space was the best thing he could do for her in that moment.

However, a part of him always felt torn at times like this, for he had long since intuited that Hadley's jealousy extended to Sookie.

On one hand, his tanah was very happy. Sookie had the innate ability to accept her life as it was even as she strove to make it better. On the other hand, Hadley was often too entwined in her past feelings of inferiority to feel completely at peace.

In her mind, Hadley was still in an odd competition with Sookie, a competition that Sookie had never wanted to be a part of.

Claude sighed as he went into the Fae realm to work. He hated that his beloved felt trapped between two realms, even as she was trapped by her past—at least, to a certain extent.

But he was also a realist. He knew that Sookie hadn't ever "taken" anything from Hadley. Their grandmother hadn't loved Sookie more—even though Sookie had stood by Adele to her last day, while Hadley had stolen from her and disappeared.

Sookie hadn't been at fault that Claudette had come after Hadley, though Claude knew that a part of his wife thought that it was "too convenient" that Claudette had arrived to take her to Faerie on the very night that Sookie and Eric had shown up.

It wasn't Sookie's fault that her body had rejected the light-fruit.

And it wasn't Sookie's fault that she treated Hunter with a kind of unconditional love that Hadley had never been able to give the boy.

And it certainly wasn't Sookie's fault that Hadley still sometimes resented Hunter for not being "normal"; she lumped him in with Sookie, whom she had disliked even when they were children because Sookie "thought she was so special."

Of course, Sookie hadn't thought that at all! On the contrary! But it was difficult to reason with the Hadley when it came to his tanah.

But, then again, Hadley had been "damaged" in ways that Sookie had not been. Their Uncle Bartlett had not been stopped before taking every part of Hadley's innocence. And—then—while she'd been Mab's captive, Hadley had been raped again. And she'd conceived a child from that violent assault.

But she'd endured.

Every day, Claude loved his wife more because she could still love him and Adele. Yes—he wanted Hadley to love Hunter just as much and to stop resenting Sookie for the things that had gone wrong in her life. But—even more than that—Claude just wanted to hold his wife to him and to thank his ancestors that she had survived.

So Claude simply tried to love Hadley with all that he was. And he prayed every day that his love would eventually be enough to help her to overcome the memories that still plagued her.

* * *

"Hello, Mr. Savoy," Robin Brunswick said as he sat next to the hunched-over man at the scratched up and sticky bar.

The man made no movement to answer; in fact, he didn't seem to have heard the warlock.

Robin was careful not to touch anything as he signaled for the bartender.

"What can a git ya?" the barkeep asked, his teeth likely stained brown from years of tobacco use.

As if to prove Robin's supposition, the man spit into a bucket behind the bar and reached into his pocket for a can of Skoal.

"Want some?" the man asked, offering Robin the can and showing off his stained fingers.

"No thank you," the warlock answered politely. "I'll just take a bottle of that," he said, pointing toward the Heineken in the cooler. "And I'll buy my friend here another of what he's having," he added, gesturing toward Remy.

The barkeep nodded and quickly took a bottle of beer out and opened it before pouring Remy another double of bourbon.

"Do I know you?" Remy asked, finally taking notice of the man who'd sat next to him—once the new drink appeared, as if by magic, in front of him. His eyes were glassy, not surprising considering the fact that he'd been at the bar for six hours.

"Not yet," Robin smirked as he took his beer, wiped off the top with his sleeve, and brought the beverage to his lips for a sip.

Meanwhile, Remy gulped down the remainder of his previous drink and started on his new one.

"Get him another," Robin said to the bartender. "And leave the bottle," he added.

* * *

 **A/N: So I know that this is a longer chapter than my usual ones, but I wanted the various parental groups to bookend the short scene with Hunter and Emma.**

 **I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter jumps ahead until December. Until next week.**

 **Kat**

 **Slight change to posting schedule:**

 _ **Earned**_ **(WordPress Fridays; other sites Saturdays)**

 _ **Given Unsought**_ **(WordPress Saturdays; other sites Sundays)**

 _ **INNER-Verse**_ **(WordPress Sundays; other sites Mondays)**

 **Sorry I'm packing these close together like this, but from Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, I'm slammed this semester.**


	5. Chapter 5: Climbing

**Chapter 05: Climbing**

 **SIX MONTHS LATER, DECEMBER 2021**

 **COBY POV**

"So?" Hunter asked. "Will you do it?"

Coby looked at Hunter with a little shock. "You want _me_ to be your groomsman?"

"Who else?" Hunter said with an easy grin. "Dad's gonna be my best man, but Emma's got two people on her side, and I wanted you for my second."

"But, surely, you have tons of people to pick from," Coby said as he spun his beer in his hands.

Though he had made it a practice to meet up with Hunter and Emma once a week at Merlotte's for the past six months, Coby knew that Hunter had a lot of people that he was closer with.

"You were the first kid who was ever my friend," Hunter explained, "except for Em. Of course, I want you to stand up with me!"

Coby held his countenance together. _Everything_ was easy for Hunter, even this decision. Coby didn't know whether he loved or hated Hunter in that moment.

"Sure. I mean—if _you're_ sure," Coby said.

Hunter grinned. "I am. Thank you so much!"

Like a breath of heaven, Emma rejoined them—of course, tucking herself into Hunter's ready side as she did so.

Coby felt _no_ ambivalence in that moment. He hated Hunter.

"Well?" Emma asked, as she looked anxiously at Hunter.

"He's in!" Hunter said excitedly.

"Sweet!" Emma exclaimed, kissing Hunter on the cheek as if he'd been the one to agree.

Coby _really_ hated Hunter.

"Who are your attendants, Emma?" Coby asked, hoping to pull Emma's lips from Hunter's body before he combusted in his anger.

"My mom," Emma effused. "And Becky, of course!"

Emma gave Coby a smile as she said Becky's name, and Coby shifted a bit in his seat.

A bit uncomfortably.

"I heard you are dating her," Emma said as she took a drink of her beverage, unconsciously swirling her straw in a way that made Cody shift for a completely different reason.

"We've gone out a few times," Coby replied. Becky was older than he was by a few years, but she was nice, _and_ —most importantly—she had become like an older sister to Emma over the years. In fact, Becky, a Were-panther who had once helped Jason, had lived with the Merlottes after she'd run away from her inbred kin. She'd once been Emma's go-to babysitter, but the two now considered themselves family.

Becky had become a kindergarten teacher several years before and now lived in a little apartment owned by her "adoptive" father, Sam Merlotte. And—so that he could be around when Hunter and Emma were in town—Coby had gotten an apartment in Bon Temps too, though he now worked in Shreveport.

Coby hated living in the Podunk town and the simple apartment, but he wasn't about to give up any chance to see Emma since she was in Bon Temps only during the weekends and holidays nowadays.

"Cool," Hunter commented as Holly brought them over their food order.

Holly was still married to Andy Bellefleur, and Coby had once called her Aunt Holly—back when he truly felt like a member of the Bellefleur family.

"Hey, sweetie," Holly said, bending down to kiss Coby on the cheek. "Your daddy made sure your steak was just how you like it."

"Thanks, Holly," Coby said.

Holly put her hands on her hips. "Now, mister, your daddy might let you get away with callin' him by his first name, but I never gave you permission not to call me Aunt Holly." She paused and softened her look and her tone. "Now, I know that your mom and dad aren't married anymore, but I'm always gonna be your aunt in my head, Coby Bellefleur."

Coby glanced over at Emma, who was looking at him encouragingly. "I know, Aunt Holly," he said obligingly. "It's just—you know how complicated things are with my mother."

"I know, sweetie," she said sympathetically as she bent down to give him another kiss on the cheek. "You know we all wish things had turned out differently, _especially_ your dad." She looked pityingly back toward the kitchen. In fact, Arlene's betrayal had broken Terry's heart. It was only his love for his children that had kept him going until he'd met Jennifer, who had infused new life into him.

Coby knew that his embarrassment was showing on his face as Holly walked away. "Sorry about that. She gets a little emotional at times," Cody explained.

Emma brightened his world by giving him a smile and a pat on his arm. "Holly's sweet. And we all know how much she and your dad love you. I'm just sorry your mom—uh—well—you know." Her cheeks flared with a blush—an enchanting one.

"No, _I'm_ sorry, Emma," Coby said, trying to keep the tears out of his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to look weak in front of Hunter. "What Arlene said to you when she learned that you were a shifter . . . ," he began.

"You hush," Emma said, taking his hand for a moment—a beautiful moment to Coby. "We all know that you aren't responsible for your momma. And I know you don't feel like she does."

Coby nodded. In fact, he felt the opposite of his mother. He would love to see Emma in her shifted form—her cheetah form—but he'd never been invited to the _ætt land_ to watch her run.

Of course, that property might expel him now anyway, so it was likely better that way, but Coby hoped one day to see her, and he vowed to protect her from any discrimination she might face—even from his own mother!

Emma pulled out her phone and began to text someone. She gave Coby a sly look as she snuggled back into Hunter's side.

Despite the look, Coby refused to let himself behave—outwardly, at least—like a love-starved idiot. He would not lie to himself by believing that Emma's kindness and playfulness toward him was anything other than friendship. She'd always had eyes only for Hunter.

But those eyes were clouded. And Coby was convinced that—one day—he _would_ have Emma's love.

Hunter looked down at his girlfriend's phone. "Em," he said a little sternly, "ask Coby _before_ you hit the send button."

Emma looked up at Hunter with fire in her eyes. She was gorgeous! And Coby loved it when the two fought, especially when Hunter behaved in a high-handed way. For some reason, Emma hated that above anything else.

"Hunter Eric Northman, you _know_ not to take that tone with me," Emma growled.

"Min raring," Hunter said softly, almost like it was a caress of his voice. "I don't want Coby to be uncomfortable, and you know what happened the last time you played matchmaker."

As if he really had caressed her, Emma was immediately soothed. She leaned upward and kissed Hunter squarely, but chastely, on the lips before turning to Coby.

"I was texting Becky to join us—I mean—if you're okay with that," Emma said.

"That'd be fine, Emma," Coby said with a smile, though he hated that she'd just cowed to Hunter. Still, he knew he needed to keep up appearances, and he was even glad that he now had a guarantee for sex that night.

He needed a release!

However, he would make sure not to show Becky a lot of affection while Emma was there. That wouldn't do, after all.

Coby checked Hunter's expression, hoping that he'd see some kind of triumph there since he'd "won" his and Emma's little scuffle. But he saw nothing on Hunter's face except the easy, confident expression he generally wore. He looked like Eric when he wore that expression—despite the fact that Eric was not Hunter's biological dad.

Coby held in his own celebratory grin. He'd recently met Hunter's father—Remy Savoy. And Coby was certain that Hunter was _not_ going to enjoy the little reunion that would soon be coming his way.

Coby turned his attention back to Emma as her phone beeped. She looked pleased by whatever response she got and winked at him.

"What other matchmaking experience have you had?" Coby asked Emma, hoping to fire up her anger at Hunter's highhandedness again.

She bit her lip and sighed.

Hunter grinned. "One of the Weres guarding us at school took a liking to Clovache."

"They would have been cute together," Emma said even as she glanced nervously over her shoulder to steal a look at her guard.

Coby could have sworn that he saw Clovache roll her eyes.

Hunter chuckled. "And they might still be. But arranging for a candlelight dinner the first week they knew each other?"

Emma couldn't help but to giggle, and a snort came out of her mouth.

Coby sighed. Adorable.

Hunter snorted in mimic of her, making fun of her.

Coby wanted to take his fucking head off!

But Emma didn't seem to mind. "What are we at?" she asked with a challenge in her tone. "Like ten to a million?"

"Hey!" Hunter defended. "I don't snort!"

Emma's eyebrow rose upward on her forehead.

"I grunt," Hunter tried.

"Riiiiight," Emma intoned, sounding like Pam in that moment.

God—Coby hated when they teased one another! He hated the intimacy of such acts. And he imagined taking the gun he'd recently bought and blowing Hunter's fucking head off in order to stop them from happening.

He took a breath to calm himself, thankful once again that Robin had made it possible for him to hide his thoughts from Hunter.

"So how's school?" Coby asked before his sinister inclinations pulled him too far away from his assigned task that night, which was to find out what classes Emma and Hunter were planning to take during the spring semester.

Emma immediately pouted.

"What?" Coby asked even as Hunter got a triumphant look on his face.

"Mr. Genius here got a better score on the history final than I did, and he's _still_ gloating," Emma said.

Coby smiled a little. Perhaps Hunter's arrogance would finally make a chink in the couple's armor.

" _You_ are the one who wanted to bet on it," Hunter said as he wrapped his arm affectionately around her shoulder. "And I beat you only by _one_ point! And you _still_ got a higher A in the class overall."

Emma popped his shoulder even as Coby's hopes sank.

"You would have _never_ beaten me if I hadn't helped you study," she pouted.

"Men du hjälpte mig, min raring," Hunter whispered to her. [" _But you did help me, my dearest_."]

Coby seethed on the inside. He hated that Hunter had been the one to learn the Viking's language from the man himself. He hated that he'd had to learn Swedish on his own and in secret. He hated that, even knowing that, he couldn't make out much of what Hunter and Eric said to each other since they often spoke in Old Norse. He hated that he understood that Hunter had just called Emma his "dearest." And most of all, he hated that she seemed to melt as she heard his words.

* * *

 **EMMA POV**

Emma grinned up at the love of her life. Oh—she was only eighteen, but she had known that Hunter Savoy—and later Hunter Northman—was the love of her life from the moment she'd met him.

* * *

 _ **Flashback to Emma and Hunter's first meeting—she was 6 and he was 5**_

Emma frowned at her mother as she looked at her in the rearview mirror.

The boy she was having me meet was only five years old—a mere infant! On the other hand, Emma was _already_ six and in school.

Luna parked their van outside of the house where Sookie Stackhouse lived. Emma could close her eyes and remember Adele Stackhouse. The old lady had brought treats to her Sunday school class until she'd died. And Miss Sookie had done the same for a while. But Emma had heard that Miss Sookie was out of town.

"A vampire lives in there—doesn't he?" Emma asked her mom.

"Yes," Luna responded. "And a little boy. He's gonna be homeschooled, and Mr. Northman asked me to help his teacher."

"Can we stay till nighttime then?" Emma asked her mom. She'd never seen a vampire up-close, so getting a glimpse of one might even make the forced "play-date" bearable.

"No," Luna responded. "We're meeting Mr. Merlotte for dinner tonight.

Emma couldn't help but to smile a little.

"You like Mr. Merlotte—right?" Luna asked her daughter.

The little girl nodded. "Yeah. He's real nice."

Luna shared a longer smile with her daughter through the rearview mirror. Emma knew that her mom liked Mr. Merlotte, too. And Emma figured Sam would be her new daddy before long.

At least, that's what she hoped.

Emma's own daddy had never made her momma smile—at least not that Emma remembered. He'd been mean to Luna, and—when Emma had to spend time with him—he'd always told her bad things about her mother. Like how she wasn't nice to him or how Emma should like him better than she liked her momma.

Marcus Bozeman's words had made Emma feel uncomfortable because she'd never seen her momma be mean to him. And Luna had definitely not been mean to Emma!

Luna opened Emma's car door and unbuckled her car seat belt for her—even though the child was able to do it for herself. But—since she didn't really wanna meet Hunter—Emma wasn't anxious to get out of the car.

Luna took Emma's hand and practically pulled her toward the front door. A pretty lady answered.

"Hello Miranda!" Luna said.

"Luna," the woman said, sticking out her hand in greeting. "And you must be Emma," she said to the little girl.

"Yeah," Emma said, looking up into her eyes. She somehow knew that Miss Miranda was two-natured—but not like her mom, Mr. Merlotte, or even her dad. "What are you, Miss Miranda?" Emma asked her.

"That's not polite," Luna said as the woman laughed.

"I'm a were-lioness," Miranda smiled. "The queen of the jungle," she added with a wink.

Emma frowned. "But there aren't any jungles in Bon Temps."

The lioness laughed. "But there are trees aplenty in the back yard. Why don't you and Hunter go play among them while your mom and I talk about his schooling?"

For the first time, Emma noticed the little boy standing behind Miranda. He was shorter than Emma was. That was for sure! His hair was a dirty blond color, and his eyes were brown.

He looked scared of Emma.

And she frowned at him.

"I like climbing trees," Emma commented, though she wasn't particularly speaking to the boy. Instead, she just let go of her mom's hand and started to go around to the back of the house—not really caring if the boy was following or not.

Emma liked to skip. The flight she achieved from hop to hop was much greater than a "normal" girl would have achieved, but she'd never wanted to be normal. She wanted to sweep over the land—barely touching it as she moved.

She stopped in front of a huge tree, which must have been very old, given its thick and gnarled branches. She smiled up at it and climbed, pulling her lithe body quickly from branch to branch until she'd reached a comfortable perch almost thirty feet above the ground.

When Emma was settled, she looked down and saw the little boy looking up at her. She noticed a woman behind him—a brunette with fierce eyes. The woman was clearly watching over Hunter, though she was keeping her distance.

Hunter looked up at Emma with questing eyes, and he bit his lower lip so hard in contemplation that it plumped between his teeth.

He said nothing as he reached up to grab a branch, his spiny arms pulling him upward— _with difficulty_. Emma could tell that Hunter wasn't physically strong, and she found herself wondering why.

Didn't he play?

Hadn't he ever climbed a tree before?

Who didn't climb trees?

What kind of kid didn't climb trees?

As Hunter looked up at Emma again, pulling himself to the next branch, she forgot about his lack of physical strength. Instead she was taken in by his eyes. They were brown, but had just enough green in them to make her think of a summer meadow—alive but fighting with the sun in order to retain its water.

She could tell that those eyes—brightened by exercise—were trying to say things that his shy lips couldn't. Indeed, he'd not yet uttered a word to her.

And yet he climbed.

She felt her heart clench and placed a hand over it—wondering what had caused the feeling.

As Hunter climbed higher, she knew the answer.

It was _him_.

She closed her eyes as he approached. Before that moment, she'd been a six-year-old girl whose life had centered on her mom and school. But now, she felt like she was Hunter's girl, and he was _hers_.

But how could that be?

What did that mean?

Emma didn't know.

But from her perch in the tree, she gave Hunter a little smile, and that was all it took to convince him to climb further upward— _to her_.

His face was the picture of terror as he moved higher and higher, but he set his jaw determinedly.

Emma smiled again at him, and she had a thought that she didn't quite understand: _"He will always get to me—always come for me—no matter what."_

Hunter's gangly limbs took to the tree like a fish would to land, but he kept climbing anyway. His hands shook from limb to limb, and his feet slipped multiple times, but still he climbed. He'd bitten his lip until it bled, but still he'd climbed.

 _To her._

Emma thought about stopping him—about going back down to him—as his foot slipped in such a way that she worried he would really fall. It was then that she realized that he was more than twenty feet up—definitely far enough up to harm himself if he fell.

However, before she could move downward, the look on the face of the woman who was watching over Hunter—guarding him—told her that if he fell, she would catch him. And that look also told her that Hunter _needed_ to climb.

Emma didn't know the guard's name, but she vowed to learn it and to learn everything about the boy with the eyes which had somehow captured her spirit.

When Hunter finally reached her, Emma couldn't help but to nod at the guard in a kind of mutual celebration. Even at six years old, she could tell that Hunter was too wonderful to be stuck on the earth. He settled onto the branch next to her, and she took his hand immediately.

She did not understand the significance of the electric connection that she felt when she touched Hunter. Certainly, it wasn't a sexual inclination, for neither of the two children was old enough to know of such things.

Actually, what they shared was even more significant than carnal energy. It locked them together like magnets. And there they stayed locked—and _would_ stay locked together.

Emma looked at the panting boy and a single word entered her mind—a question really.

" _Forever?"_

* * *

 **[flashback over]**

Emma smiled as she squeezed Hunter's hand in Merlotte's. The noise in the bar had gotten louder, and she'd been broken from her memory.

Of course, the young woman now knew what the energy that had passed between her and Hunter had meant. He was her soul mate—her other half.

As children, neither of them had understood what they were feeling, but they had tried to explain it to one another.

He'd told her in a quiet voice that he'd never climbed a tree before.

She'd told him that she'd never held a boy's hand before, but that she wanted to hold his as much as she could.

He'd added—with a tiny bit more confidence—that he'd be happy to climb the tree again _with her_.

And they did— _always_ together.

Until Hunter built her a treehouse in that tree.

And—though she loved her parents a lot—that treehouse had been the site of her first true home.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's fun for me to explore Hunter and Emma as they grow up, as well as little elements of their childhood. I hope that you are liking it too! If you are missing Eric and Sookie, don't worry—they will have their places in the story.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Kat**


	6. Chapter 6: Fallen

**Chapter 06: Fallen**

 **EMMA POV**

Becky's arrival interrupted Emma's thoughts about Hunter and the treehouse. Becky had become like a sister to her, and Emma rose to give her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. The gentlemen he was, Hunter also rose, which spurred Coby to rise as well. Hunter gave Becky a peck on the cheek, and then Becky gave Cody a quick peck on the lips.

Emma grinned at them.

"Uh—you wanna drink?" Hunter asked, offering to go to the bar since Holly seemed busy.

"Sure," Becky said, tearing her eyes away from Coby with seeming difficulty.

Emma grinned a little wider. It looked like Becky really liked him, and Emma was glad for her. Becky had had a crush on Coby for years, and he was a nice guy; plus, Emma preferred him being off the market.

She'd caught some of the looks he'd spent on her throughout the years; thus, though she'd always tried to be nice to him, she'd never allowed herself to be alone with Coby Bellefleur.

Mostly, she'd not wanted to get in the way of Hunter and Coby's friendship, for Coby was the closest "contemporary" male friend that Hunter had ever had.

However, now that he was with Becky, Emma felt like she could relax.

"Your usual?" Hunter asked, even as Coby looked at Becky curiously. He probably hadn't hung out with her enough to know her usual.

"Yeah, but have them make it with Dr. Pepper," she reminded.

Hunter bowed a little. "Of course, milady," he said gallantly. "One rum and Doc coming up."

Emma melted a little when he looked at her. "Do you need a refill, min raring?" She nodded. "Just the Doc part for me though."

Hunter grinned his lopsided grin—the one that made her wish that he was already eighteen! "I'll have Sam make us a pitcher of the Doctor." He winked.

Yep. March 30 couldn't come soon enough for Emma, which reminded her. She needed to talk to Dr. L. and get on the pill.

* * *

 **LATER THAT NIGHT**

 **COBY POV**

Coby stretched a little. Becky was tucked in next to him, but he couldn't sleep. The scent of her hair—though not bad—was not quite right. He wished that they'd gone back to her house now. At least then he could have left inconspicuously, leaving her a note explaining that he had to work early or run an errand for his mom or something. But he wasn't able to do anything now, for they were in his bed.

And that meant he'd be stuck with her until she woke up, and since the next day was Saturday, she would likely want to eat breakfast with him.

He sighed.

At least, since the next day was Christmas Eve, he could give her a family excuse to get her to leave earlier in the morning. And he wouldn't look like a bad guy when he did it either. Who knew? He might even get in the mood to fuck her again between now and then, and Becky really wasn't that bad of a lay, Coby rationalized.

She was enthusiastic both to please and to learn.

And he had needs—after all.

Oh—he planned to be faithful to Emma once they got married. He'd even stayed a virgin until he was 20 because he'd wanted for their first times to be together, but hormones and college girls had gotten the best of him, and he had never been wanting in looks or in charm.

He closed his eyes and stifled a growl—as he thought about how his "charms" had become second best.

For several years, he'd noticed that girls tended to look at Hunter first—and _then_ at him—when they were in a room together. However, Coby comforted himself with the fact that he was still considered quite attractive to most girls. Naturally, he was _at least_ an 8, but his brain and his job made him a 9 or a 10.

Hunter had simply been given good genes, along with the gift of confidence—thanks to Eric and Sookie's upbringing.

Coby heard his phone ding with a text message, and he slowly disentangled himself from Becky's arms. He covered her body with a blanket and bent down to kiss her on the cheek when she stirred. She had grown lovelier and lovelier with age, but she still wasn't whom he truly wanted.

That was Emma— _only_ Emma.

Coby put on his jeans and left his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Just as he'd figured, his phone had signaled a text from Robin asking for a progress report. The warlock was aware of each and every meeting that he had with Hunter.

Coby quickly texted back that he was with Becky. He also informed Robin about an interesting piece of information he'd gotten from her—one that solidified Coby's timeline _and_ his urgency. Emma and Hunter were planning a vacation at the end of March—a week-long trip that would correspond to both their spring break and Hunter's birthday. Coby didn't know where that trip was to, but he had learned from Becky—in confidence, of course—that it would be where Hunter and Emma gave one another their virginity.

That thought—even the _possibility_ of it—made Coby's temper boil. The idea of Hunter stealing something so profound made Coby want to kill his "friend" even more than before. However, Coby was also made very happy by the news that Emma was still a virgin; that meant that he could still be her first.

 _Would_ be her first.

Robin texted back that Coby should continue to try to undermine Hunter and Emma's relationship.

He scoffed. He'd been trying that for years! But it was difficult given the fact that it seemed to be quite impossible for him to get Emma alone!

And his latest mystery was that he couldn't figure out where Emma was living in Baton Rouge. He couldn't figure out where Hunter was living either, for that matter!

Robin's vampire contact had found no record of a dorm, an apartment, or even a house where either one of them was living. It was as if they appeared in their classes—all of which they shared—out of thin air, and then they disappeared.

Hunter and Emma were home on Saturdays and Sundays, but beyond that regularity and their class schedule, Coby could find out nothing of how they spent their time, except that they would usually meet up with him on Saturday nights at Merlotte's.

He _did_ know, however, that they were well-guarded in their classes. Because of a large endowment given by the Northmans, the administrators at LSU were more than accommodating, too. Coby was aware that Clovache and Breeta stayed right inside and right outside their classroom doors, while there was at least one Were inside of each class with them.

Coby sent another quick text to Robin, and his warlock friend and he arranged to meet the next evening—Christmas Eve. If all went as planned, Hunter would be getting a _very_ unexpected present for the holidays, and though it would do nothing to hurt him physically, it would most certainly shake him.

Feeling better Coby went back to his bedroom, climbed into bed with Becky, woke her, and then tried to imagine that she was Emma as he had sex with her for a second time that night.

* * *

 **HUNTER/EMMA POV**

"What are you thinking?" Hunter asked, as he lazily stoked Emma's arm with long patterns.

Though it was cool outside, the treehouse had a space heater, so the structure was relatively warm. Plus, the teens had put back on their clothing after fooling around, and they'd snuggled under a thick quilt.

"I'm just thinkin' about wedding colors," Emma laughed. "Nothing big."

Hunter chuckled. "Big or small, woman," he said in his best "cavemanish" tone, "I always wanna know what you're thinkin'." He pulled her into his side, just as she popped him on the stomach. She knew he would hardly feel the tap on his well-formed abs.

They were silent for a minute.

"So what color are you thinkin'—this week? Weren't you set on blue?" Hunter asked playfully.

Emma scoffed, "Yeah, Einstein, but there are about a million shades of blue in the world, and I still can't figure out which one I want."

Hunter chuckled, "I think you've been hanging out with Pam too much."

"When it comes to fashion, there's no such thing," Emma said.

"No comment," Hunter said wisely.

"Good boy."

"I'd tell you that our wedding will be beautiful no matter what, but I'm afraid that you'd just hit me again if I did."

Emma giggled. "You're probably right." She looked up at Hunter. "So—are you glad that Coby said yes?"

Hunter nodded. "Yeah."

"Hey," Emma said, astutely pointing out the flash of doubt that crossed her "unofficial" fiancé's face, "what are _you_ thinkin'?"

Hunter sighed. "It's just Coby. If he does have a little thing for you, I'm worried it might hurt him—you know? To have him in the wedding. But—worse—I'm worried you might feel uncomfortable." He raked his hand through his hair. "Maybe I shouldn't have asked him."

Emma raised her hand gently to Hunter's cheek. "We've talked about this. Even if Coby still has his crush on me, he's your oldest friend in Bon Temps."

Hunter shook his head. "No, _you_ are."

Emma kissed him chastely. "And you are my oldest friend, too, but Coby's been around us almost as long, and he seems a little lost now that he's back in town—like he's tryin' to find a way to truly fit back in."

Hunter nodded. "Yeah. I've noticed that, too—even though we only see him once a week." He smiled. "But it seems like Becky is really into him, so that makes things less potentially awkward—right?"

"Hey— _you_ are the one who didn't want me to match-make!" She playfully hit him again.

He laughed and tickled her side in retaliation. "It's just that I want him to be happy, and it'd be nice if he . . . ." Hunter stopped midsentence.

"Didn't _study_ me so much?" Emma finished for him.

Hunter sighed and nodded.

"But you've said that his thoughts don't give us any reason for concern," Emma reminded. "And your mom hasn't picked up anything wrong from him either."

Hunter shrugged. "I know. Coby's head just tells me that he wants to hang out with us—that he missed all of his friends in Bon Temps when he was living in the college dorms in Baton Rouge. That's why he moved to Bon Temps instead of Shreveport after he got his job."

Emma grinned and changed the topic. "I'm glad that we don't have to live in the dorms. I _much_ prefer living with you." She put her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest.

"Me too," Hunter said as he kissed her hair. "And it's nice that your mom and dad are letting you stay over tonight since tomorrow's Christmas Eve—even if you have to use the guestroom."

Emma nodded against Hunter's flannel shirt. She loved its softness against her cheek. "Since they'll be here tomorrow night for dinner, it's not like they'll lose out, and I already said I'd spend several days with them after Christmas."

Hunter wrapped her tighter into his arms. "But I'm gonna miss _us_ time," he grumbled.

She giggled. "You'll miss it for exactly one week."

"One week is too long," he pouted.

"You've gotten spoiled," she grinned.

"Yes I have," he agreed with a little growl.

* * *

 **HUNTER POV**

Hunter _would_ miss what he and Emma had labeled "couch time." It _had_ become his favorite time of the day since they'd started at LSU.

Basically speaking, "couch time" involved him and Emma—together and alone—for several hours on the large couch in Hunter's "apartment." Of course, the definitions of "his" apartment and "her" apartment were pretty loose—since their hallway doors were never locked. Indeed, Hunter and Emma had settled into a routine of "almost" cohabitation that suited them both at college.

Both had made a few new friends, with whom they socialized together after their classes; however, by 5:00 p.m. each night, Hunter and Emma were always "home" and usually cooking together in Hunter's kitchen since it was slightly bigger than Emma's. Over the years, Hunter had learned quite a few cooking techniques from Uncle Lala, and cooking relaxed him. Emma, though not as "creative" in the kitchen, complemented Hunter's work by being his sous chef and the table setter. Then the two would clean up the dishes and settle onto the couch for the night.

Often, they'd begin by studying together since they'd decided to take their classes together while they were doing their pre-requisites. Or—if they didn't have homework to do—they'd relax on the couch and watch television or a movie. But eventually—inevitably—their hands would being moving over each other's bodies. And their mouths would find each other.

It was as if magnets within them would draw them together.

Sadly—no matter what they were doing on the couch—when 11:30 p.m. came around, one of the "Brits," Clovache or Breeta, would knock on the door to signal that it was half an hour before their curfew.

It was safe to say that Hunter was frustrated every time that knock occurred. And Emma often growled, her eyes glowing dangerously.

Both of them were looking forward to when Hunter turned 18—which was when the curfew _would_ stop. It was also when the couple intended to begin sleeping together—and that didn't just mean sex.

Hunter didn't care what Sam—or anyone else said about the matter. In the days between his birthday at the end of March and his wedding day in June, there was no way in hell that Hunter intended to have sex with Emma just to leave her to go back to a separate bedroom.

Nope—Emma and he had decided that she was going to be "officially" moving into his apartment as soon as they were engaged.

"Have you talked to Claude and Niall about next year?" Emma asked Hunter, her mood clearly darkening a little.

Hunter tensed as well. "Yeah. Actually, Dad talked to them last week, and they're gonna start helping out next semester." He was silent for a moment. "Dad and I don't wanna risk it."

Emma sighed. "Okay. How worried should I be?"

Hunter was thoughtful for a moment. During the last few weeks of the previous semester, he'd picked up a few "unfriendly" minds at the edge of his range as Emma and he had been hanging out in the student union or shopping. The odd thing was that the minds didn't seem as if they intended the couple harm as much as they were focused upon Emma and he a little _too_ much.

As if they were spies.

Hunter had picked up the same minds trying to follow them back to their home too, though he was certain that Clovache, who'd driven them to the grocery store on that occasion, had _most_ certainly lost them.

And none of the eggs had survived the trip either!

"I don't know," Hunter said honestly in response to Emma's question.

"But you're worried enough to change the routine," she observed.

"Yeah. Whoever was following us picked us up at school—though I've never felt them close to home, so I'm pretty sure they don't know where we live." He sighed. "So it's the car travel from school that makes us vulnerable. Therefore, Niall and Claude are gonna start taking turns "popping" us to and from classes. Dad's gonna give us new Weres, in case our last ones were recognized, and we can't socialize with our Were guards away from home anymore," he added with some regret.

Both he and Emma had become friends with their current Were guards/fellow classmates.

"What will Travis and Miguel do then?" she asked.

"Dad's agreed to pay if they wanna keep going to school, and they'll be back-up on campus if our new Weres need it," he responded.

The shifter nodded. "Anything else?" she asked with a sigh.

"No more trips to the grocery store," Hunter said. "Our new Weres will go."

Emma took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Em. I'm sorry I can't give you a normal life," Hunter said with regret.

She looked up at him with fire in her eyes. " _Normal_ life?" She shook her head and kissed him deeply before pulling away abruptly. "You are a fairy-human hybrid and I shift into a cheetah." She grinned. "What's not normal about that?"

"I meant a safe life—one without guards," Hunter said seriously.

She shrugged. "I like our guards. I like that you have always been protective of me. And—to be frank—I've had enough honest conversations with your mom to know the traps I am not gonna fall into."

"Traps?" he asked.

She smiled. "Did you know that your mom—at one point—almost rejected your dad because she was afraid she'd never have a 'normal' life with him?"

Hunter shook his head. "No. I didn't."

"She hated the thought of having guards all the time, too, but she got used to it, and so have I. Your dad was worth it, Hunter. And so are you."

He leaned in to kiss her gently. "I'm so glad you picked me, Emma Merlotte."

She shook her head. "How could I not, Hunter Northman?"

The couple was silent for a moment as they just looked at one another with love.

"So—our 'commute' is gonna consist of fairy transport next semester?" Emma asked.

Hunter nodded. "Yep. They'll come to our house in Baton Rouge and just 'pop' us to some secure place on campus or another." He shrugged and chuckled. "Dad and Claude are figuring it all out, so you know it'll be cloak and dagger."

Emma giggled and nodded. "Yep."

"And, of course, our Brits can 'jump' wherever we go, so they will follow us, and our Weres will commute the old-fashioned way."

"By car," Emma grinned.

Hunter nodded. "Yep. And Mom and Claude are gonna do some spot-checking while we're in our classes too."

Emma nodded. She knew that "spot-checking" was their term for telepathic screening. Though Hunter had greatly honed his telepathic skills over the years, he wasn't as powerful as Sookie or Claude. And she felt better knowing that the two would be keeping and "ear" on things—given the fact that someone was apparently trying to spy on them.

"You know," Hunter started, even as he moved his hand to caress her hair, "I think we should just live here—on the _æ_ _tt land_ —next year. If we're just gonna be 'commuted' to school, it seems practical."

Emma smiled against his chest. "I love that idea. I was already thinking about how weird it was gonna be to get a whole house from our parents in June when we get married and then have to go back to another house in Baton Rouge next year for school."

Hunter pulled her tighter to him. "Even though I love our apartment, I miss this land—this home—when we aren't here."

"Me too," she agreed.

"You know—it would be much more convenient if I could just teleport us," Hunter sighed.

"Maybe you'll eventually learn," Emma said. "Meanwhile, we'll manage."

"Did you know that Adele teleported for the first time the other day?" Hunter asked with a chuckle, his mood lifting.

"You're not jealous?" Emma grinned.

"Heck no," Hunter said. "She's more fairy than me anyway, and she lives in the Faerie realm, so it matters more to her."

"Well you can teleport too—in a way," Emma reminded.

"Yeah, but just directly to Dùraig."

"It's still something. You can visit Hadley when you want."

Hunter nodded in agreement. Just like his mom— _Sookie_ —he didn't have the power to teleport unless it was directly to Dùraig's pool; however, that was something—as Emma had said. From the time he'd learned, he'd been instructed to go straight there if there were ever any imminent danger. But he wasn't sure if he would do that, for he couldn't take Emma to Dùraig with him since she had no fairy blood.

Emma shivered a little.

"Cold?" he asked.

"A little."

"Let's go inside," Hunter said.

"But curfew's not for a while," Emma responded.

"There's an _excellent_ couch in there," Hunter grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

"But your mom and dad . . . ," Emma started.

Hunter closed his eyes and concentrated. "I can't hear them, so they must be in their bedroom behind the privacy spell."

He got up and extended his hand to her in order to help her to her feet before turning off the space heater.

"You know them," Hunter said, rolling his eyes. "They are likely in for the night."

"Couch time it is then," Emma agreed, leading her beloved into the house.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I want to thank everyone who is following this story!**

 **For the record, this chapter was hard for me to write-not the Hunter and Emma part, but the Coby/Becky part. I really liked Becky in the show (remember, she was the young Werepanther in Hotshot who helps Jason. In CBTM, she helped Eric, Jason, etc., when Quinn's group attacked. Quinn had paid the Hotshot group to attack Queen Thalia and Becky warned Jason of the impending attack (which was meant to be a diversion to draw Eric out and make him vulnerable to Quinn and Hallow's attack.**

 **Anyway, Becky's a sweet girl who sees Coby as a nice guy and a good catch-and he would be if he wasn't obsessed with her "sister."**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Until next week,**

 **Kat**


	7. Chapter 7: A Northman's Woman

**Chapter 07: A Northman's Woman**

Many hours later, Hunter and Emma still had all of their clothing on, but it was certainly ruffled. After a heavy make-out session, they had lain down to cuddle and—since Sam wasn't in the house—they didn't feel the need to move from their entwined position as they heard Sookie giggling her way downstairs. Eric was obviously following quickly on her heels—or chasing her—given the sounds from the stairs.

Emma smiled up at Hunter. "Have I mentioned lately how much I love how much your parents are in love?" she whispered.

Hunter kissed her nose and nodded. In truth, they both wanted to live the kind of romance that his mom and dad shared. No matter how much time passed or what kind of changes came, Eric and Sookie couldn't keep their hands off of each other, and they never apologized for it either.

"Hunter Eric Northman!" came his mom's voice from mid-stair.

"Uh-oh," came his dad's voice.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Not a school night, Mamma," Hunter said, reverting to what he'd called his mom when he was younger, knowing that she'd be more likely to go easier on him if he did.

His mom entered the living room with his dad still on her heels. As soon as she stopped, his dad's arms wrapped around her from behind and landed on her abdomen, even as his chin came to rest on her shoulder. Immediately, his mom's hands moved on top of his dad's, holding them in place.

Hunter had seen them in that pose millions of times, but he never got tired of it.

His mom was trying—but failing—to look stern. His dad just looked amused. As if she could see his face, his mom popped his dad on the arm before re-finding his hand. His dad schooled his features and kissed his mom's neck before giving Emma and him a wink.

"It's 3:00 a.m. in the morning, Hunter," his mom said.

"But it's Christmas Eve," Hunter tried.

Sookie shook her head. "Son, you are still seventeen, and you know what that means."

"Not an adult yet," Hunter said with a sigh.

Sookie narrowed her eyes. "And Emma's gonna have to transition to more day hours when she stays with her family next week too. You can't be keepin' her up all night."

Hunter sighed again. "I know, Mamma."

Sookie shook her head and chuckled. "Thirty more minutes and then bedtime—okay?"

Hunter nodded and gave both his parents a huge grin as they sat down on the love seat. The furniture in the room had long since been changed to create more seating. A huge couch and loveseat were now the major pieces, but a lot of easily moved chairs were placed against the walls, just waiting for family members to take. And Hunter and his dad's old rocking chair was still in the corner of the room. Hunter would catch his dad sitting in it sometimes with a faraway look in his eyes. The teen knew that his dad was recalling when he was a kid and used to sit in his dad's lap when they watched movies and television together. Truth be told, Hunter sat in that chair too every time he had a tough decision to make or when he was brooding about something.

He'd sat there for about ten hours one time when he had his one and only major fight with Emma. It had occurred after Emma's prom last spring and had started over the fact that he'd danced with someone else. Before prom, they'd discussed the fact that she wanted to dance with a few of her male friends. Of course, being Eric and Sookie Northman's son, Hunter had checked their brains to make sure that they truly thought of themselves as _just_ her friends. Thankfully, all of them had.

But then Hunter had made an error in judgment. He'd danced with a friend he'd met in his physics class the year before. He'd first known that something was wrong when he felt Emma's head asking him what he thought he was doing. Actually—more like yelling at him. But she'd not stopped her dance, and—not wanting to be impolite to his friend—Hunter hadn't stopped his either.

Apparently, that had been a _big_ mistake, but Hunter hadn't backed down. Generally, he let his fiery Emma have her way in things that he didn't care about one way or another. About important things, they had developed a way of communicating that suited them both. He knew that he could get her attention or cool her temper with a tone, and she had learned to listen for it.

Meanwhile, it took only a projected thought for her to communicate if he was being an asshole, and he'd learned to listen for that too.

They'd perfected the dance of their personalities so much so that his Uncle Lala called them Fire and Ice when they were together.

But the night of the prom had been different. Emma had become jealous— _very_ jealous—and no matter what Hunter had said about listening to the girl's mind and not hearing anything of concern, Emma hadn't listened to him. Instead, she'd called her dad and had gone home with Clovache dutifully in tow, while Hunter had cluelessly driven home with an equally clueless Duncan and Batanya. Neither of them had spoken to him as he parked his car and went inside. Still in his tuxedo, Hunter had sat in his and Dad's chair and had rocked. At a certain point, his dad had joined him in the living room, but had said nothing.

Hunter had appreciated that. Near dawn, his dad had gotten up, come over to him, kissed him on the forehead, and then gone to bed.

At 7:30 a.m., there had been a knock at the door, but Hunter had already been out of the chair and answering the door before there could be a second knock. Sam had waved as he drove away. Emma stood before him—still in her prom gown, but with her hair and make-up obviously refreshed. She'd grabbed his hand and led him toward their tree house. She'd stopped just short of the privacy spell and given Clovache a pointed look. The Britlingen had produced a portable iPod station and had started up a recording of Bubba's song, "Love Me Tender." It had been the very first song that they'd ever danced to at his mom and dad's human wedding.

Emma had taken his hand and had let him lead her in a dance in the clearing right below their treehouse. She hadn't spoken a single word, but—then again—she hadn't needed to. Her eyes had told him that she was sorry. Her eyes had told him that she trusted him. Her eyes had told him that she'd let her jealousy govern her to the point of irrationality.

And Hunter had thanked the gods for the fact that he'd not been the one to fuck up!

In turn, he had hoped that his eyes told her whom he belonged to. It was and would always be to _her_.

As the song had ended and gone to another song by Bubba, this time "Can't Help Falling in Love," which was his parents' song, Hunter had finally spoken.

"You can _love_ with me. And you can _fight_ with me, Em. But, please, never walk away from me again." He had paused as a tear fell from his eye. "I can take _anything_ but that."

She'd wiped away his tear and had pulled him closer to her. "Next time, I'll yell at you or claw the other girl's eyes out, but I won't leave. I swear."

Hunter had smiled at her and had taken her back to his bed where they'd slept fully clothed in their prom outfits and holding hands.

Hunter was brought out of his thoughts by Emma's soft snores against his chest.

He heard a chuckle from his dad, who was holding his mom in a similar way to how he was holding Emma. She too was snoring a little.

" _Women_ ," his dad said lightly but contentedly as he petted his wife's hair. "It looks like Northman men are cursed with the snorers of the bunch."

Hunter smiled and then noticed that he was stroking his woman's hair, too.

His dad leveled him with a serious look that only he could give. "When will you bond with her?" he asked. He didn't need to ask "if" Hunter and Emma intended to bond.

Hunter had been made well aware that fairies—like vampires—could bond. And—unlike Sookie—he had been trained on how to offer his bond and his light deliberately, rather than by accident.

Not that Eric had ever regretted being the recipient of Sookie's Fae bond.

"Before the wedding. We'll do it when we—uh . . . ," Hunter's voice trailed off.

"When you enjoy each other fully for the first time," his dad finished with a knowing smirk.

Hunter nodded again.

Eric sighed. "Sookie and I would give you the daggers that belonged to Britomart and Artegal, but . . . ." It was his turn to stop midsentence.

"But you don't think that's a good idea," Hunter commented.

Eric chuckled and nodded. "You are sometimes _too_ perceptive, min son. But yes. It's difficult to explain, but every time your mother and I speak of it, we both get a bad feeling."

Hunter nodded yet again. "I know. Me too. From what you've told me, I'm not sure that Emma and I would survive their power."

Eric sighed. "When your mother and I first used them, it was," he paused, "profound."

Hunter chuckled. "They belong to you two anyway."

Eric nodded. "Your great-great grandfather would like to have a ceremonial dagger forged especially for you and Emma. He wanted for it to be his wedding gift to you, but he could have it ready by March."

"Good," Hunter said with a nod.

Eric grinned. "I'd ask you if you were sure about bonding, but I've known that you have loved Emma since you were five years old."

"She _made_ me love her," Hunter defended himself with a grin of his own as he looked down at Emma.

Eric looked down at his own mate. "Special women—the snorers," he chuckled. "They do have a way of doing that." Eric sighed as he continued to caress his wife's soft hair. "When she begins to age, your mother will join me as a vampire. Maybe even before then." The vampire looked pointedly at his son—a question he'd been afraid to ask for years brimming in his eyes.

"Are you asking if I will become a vampire, too?" Hunter asked.

Eric shook his head. "Not yet. I am merely telling you that if you do ever want that, you and your mate would need to make the decision together, and you must keep in mind that she will age more quickly than you will."

Hunter nodded. "I know. And we have _already_ talked about it."

As much as he wanted to know, Eric didn't ask what they had decided. Instead he looked at Hunter squarely in the eye. "I would be honored to make you my vampire child one day—if that is your decision."

"You would do that?" Hunter asked. "Mom would _let_ you?"

Eric chuckled and nodded. "Yes. She would allow me to take your blood and to give you mine"

With a smirk, Hunter shook his head, acknowledging just how territorial his mom was about his dad's blood. Of course, his father was equally as territorial.

"I wouldn't—uh—feel anything—uh . . . ," Hunter stopped midsentence.

"Sexual?"

Hunter blushed and nodded.

"No," Eric clarified. "I would control my blood in you so that you never felt sexual desire for me. I know that most vampires and their children have physical relationships, but it is not always done. And older vampires can," he paused, "skip the physical step."

"Thank God!" Hunter muttered.

"Indeed," Eric agreed with his son.

"And Emma?" Hunter asked.

"More complicated," Eric answered. "Your sister had wanted to be the one to turn her."

"But Pam is not old enough to control the maker-child bond?" Hunter asked perceptively.

Eric nodded and looked at Hunter pointedly. "She would try. But—no—she's not." He shook his head. "Pam would—I fear—unintentionally draw Emma into a physical relationship with her. And I know that you and Emma will want to remain faithful to each other—even if you are both turned—so I have rethought what would be best for Emma over the years. _If_ you both decided to be turned."

Hunter nodded in understanding. "So? What have you come up with?"

"Thalia," Eric answered. "She knows how to control her blood—and she's refrained from having sexual relationships with most of her children. Or Duncan is old enough, too. And I'm sure that Batanya would help him to keep in line as well."

"Thalia has made children?" Hunter asked with a rise of the brow.

Eric smirked. "Three."

"Okay," Hunter said as he shook his head. "Emma and I will discuss things, and we'll let you know our decision when we know it. But it might be a while."

"I know," Eric said. "But it is good to have plans in place—just in case—if they are needed. If there were to be an emergency."

Sobered by that thought, Hunter nodded, his worried eyes traveling down to Emma's slumbering figure.

Eric sighed. "Do not dwell within the worst case scenario. Yes—acknowledge it. Then—prepare in order to avoid it. But, in the end, concentrate on the good. If there is anything that I have learned from the troubles I have faced with Sookie, it is that."

Hunter nodded as he accepted the lesson from his father.

The vampire changed the subject. "Tonight, however, let us focus on the good. You will soon create a bond with the woman you love. And—not long after—you will wed her." He grinned. "And, then, I shall begin enjoying grandchildren."

Hunter chuckled softly. "Maybe not right away."

Eric shook his head. "Humans these days," he winked.

Hunter grinned, even as he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I know. I know. In your day, Emma and I would have been married in our early teens, and we would have already given you several grandkids."

"I am very glad to be living in this time—that these days are mine too." The vampire smiled sincerely, as he stood, carefully lifting Sookie up with him. Hunter saw his sleeping mother nestle against his dad's chest as if he were the most comfortable pillow in the world.

"I'm glad you're here too," Hunter said just as sincerely.

The teen didn't like to think about what his life would have been like if Eric Northman hadn't come into it—if the vampire hadn't taken him in, watched over him, loved him, and eventually become his father in every way that mattered.

"I will tell Niall to go ahead with the forging of the dagger," Eric said as he moved to leave the room. "Oh—and son?"

"Yeah dad?"

"It's been more than thirty minutes," Eric said with a lop-sided grin. "However, I will," he paused, " _distract_ your mother if she awakens before dawn, but you will have to deal with her wrath after that. If she doesn't find both you and Emma asleep— _and_ in different rooms."

Hunter smirked. He had a pretty good idea of what his father meant by the word "distract."

"You aren't staying up to watch the sunrise today?" the teen asked.

Eric shook his head. "No—I want to be able to awaken early tonight since we will be having a party here."

Hunter nodded and then watched his dad carry his mom up the stairs.

Ten minutes later, Hunter gathered his own mate into his arms. Emma was about 5'6" to his 6'2", and she was light to him, given the fact that he'd exercised with a heavy sword from the time he was thirteen. He felt her nestle into him as he carried her to the guestroom, but he resisted the urge to climb into bed with her. Instead, he kissed her forehead as she snuggled into her pillow.

Odin, who had just turned eleven years old, trailed them into the room. "Protect," Hunter whispered to his loyal dog. In understanding, Odin jumped up and lay at Emma's side, his head toward the door. Hunter patted his dog affectionately and closed the door on his way out. He nodded to Clovache as she quickly took her station outside Emma's door.

The Britlingen guard gave him a wry smile. "I know. _Protect_ ," she said.

Hunter returned her smile and nodded before going upstairs to his own room. He still used the headboard that his dad had carved for him for his sixth birthday—the first birthday he'd spent with his dad.

He was currently working with his dad on many new pieces of furniture that would go into his and Emma's new home, but he'd never wanted a more "grown up" bed other than that. The dinosaurs on the headboard may not have enthralled him anymore, but they still told stories about his father's love for him, and Hunter intended for the bed to be used for his own firstborn son—or daughter—if she liked dinosaurs.

Hunter sank into his bed as his cats, Brit and Ham, jumped up onto the bed. It turned out that—adding to the "cat soap opera" (as his sissy, Pam had called it)—Brit had litters of kittens with _both_ Ham and Art, who'd spent most of their years competing for the female cat's attentions. And many of those kittens were now scattered in homes around the _ætt land_. Art had died three years before—due to a snake bite—but Brit and Ham were still going strong. His dad wouldn't confirm it, but Hunter was pretty sure that Ham had had some vampire blood at one point because he still acted like a kitten sometimes, even though he was over twelve years old. Both cats curled into him as Hunter contemplated his decision to bond with Emma.

They'd talked about making their bond for several years now. Hunter had manifested quite a few fairy powers in addition to his telepathy over the years, including the abilities to both hurt and heal with his light.

He practiced with his light power with both Grandpa Niall and Uncle Claude, and he'd gotten pretty good at using it. However, he didn't have the ability to generate shields like his mom did.

Still, Hunter knew that he had quite a bit of Fae magic within him, so he'd been told from an early age that he would likely create a Fae bond with Emma if they ever shared blood. And that bond meant they would _share_ some of their magic with each other.

No one had any idea how that bond would manifest—since a fairy-human hybrid and a shifter had never been known to have bonded before. However, Hunter hoped a bond would—at the very least—help him and Emma to create children who could shift. Being mostly human, Hunter knew that his genes might prevent Emma and him from having children who were two-natured. In fact, Dr. L. had told him—in confidence—once that he had only a 25% chance each time of making a two-natured child with Emma. Hunter prayed that the magic within him—helped by the bond he and Emma formed—would raise their odds.

However, if there was one thing that Hunter had learned from his parents, it was that any child would be a miracle and blessing. Shifter or human, adopted or natural—Hunter knew that he would love all of Emma and his children.

Hunter tried to get comfortable, but—more and more often—sleep didn't come to him easily. He thought once again about his Grandma Brit's words. And for the millionth time, he wondered if he'd done enough to _earn_ the woman who was sleeping peacefully downstairs.

His Emma.

Finally, he fell into a fitful sleep wishing that his mate was next to him.

* * *

 **A/N: I don't have time for a long author's not today; however, I hope that you liked the chapter. It's fun imagining the evolving relationship between Eric and Hunter as Hunter becomes a man.**

 **Anyway, I hope you will leave me a word or two if you have the time.**

 **Best,**

 **Kat**


	8. Chapter 8: Little Sparrow

**Chapter 08: Little Sparrow**

 **[extended dreams are shown in italics]**

 _"Do not be alarmed," a familiar voice said._

 _Hunter opened his eyes to the sound of the voice, but he still felt asleep._

 _Was he dreaming?_

 _"Do you remember me?" the voice asked._

 _Hunter was nodding before he even registered making a conscious decision to do so._

 _"Grandma Brit?" he asked focusing his eyes on the form before him for the first time. "But you died," he stammered._

 _She chuckled._

 _Yes—he remembered the sound of her cackle, too. However, the Ancient pythoness—whom he'd eventually called Grandma Brit since she was Godric's maker—looked different than she had when he'd known her. Her eyes were a clear blue, not milky white. Her hair was blond, not gray and white. And her skin had no wrinkles._

 _"I do not look much like a 'Grandma' now, but yes, I am she," she returned with a smirk._

 _"But—how are you here?" Hunter asked._

 _"The how is less important than the why," Britomart responded._

 _"Fuck!" Hunter said as he sat up, despite still feeling sluggish. "If you're here, then that means something bad is gonna happen—right? Are you here to warn me about the future like you warned Mom and Dad about Russell? Fuck!"_

 _Britomart chuckled, but the sound didn't do much to reassure Hunter._

 _"Is it Emma? Is she in danger?" the teen asked forcefully._

 _"You have inherited the Viking's penchant for reacting," she paused, "aggressively when you think your mate might be in trouble."_

 _"Please tell me she's not," Hunter begged._

 _Britomart sighed. "When I first met you, I was known by vampires as the Ancient Pythoness."_

 _"The A.P.," Hunter said with a nod._

 _Britomart smiled. "Yes. My little cat—the Viking—gave me that nickname. You must tell him and his mate hello for me, and given your colorful language from earlier, I think it is safe for me to give you my message for_ them _."_

 _"You are here with a message for them?"_

 _"Not really," she laughed. "I just want you to remind them_ not _to fuck things up."_

 _"That's it?" Hunter asked with an Eric-like arch of his eyebrow._

 _"For them? Yes," the A.P. said. "But—then again—_ they _didn't dream of me, so it is you who needed to speak to me."_

 _"Are you real? Or just a dream?"_

 _She laughed again. "I am both—of course."_

 _"Dammit. You still speak in riddles!" Hunter said with frustration._

 _"Some things don't change," she winked. "But some things do. You have grown into a handsome young man._ And _a good one."_

 _"Thanks," Hunter sighed. "But please—will you tell me_ why _you are here?"_

 _"I came because you were thinking about me earlier—because you needed me to come to you tonight."_

 _"_ Why _?" Hunter asked, now almost desperate for an answer._

 _"To remind you of what I said before—what I told you when you were a child."_

 _Hunter felt his heart jumping in his chest. "You said that I would have to_ earn _Emma."_

 _"I said that you would one day have a great love in your life but that you would have to earn it first. I do not remember mentioning Emma by name."_

 _Hunter's face immediately became even whiter than his father's as the blood drained from it._

 _The A.P. shook her head. "I am sorry, little one. I have never been effective at teasing."_

 _"Teasing?" Hunter asked incredulously. "Huh?"_

 _"Do not fear, Hunter. Who else could your great love be? You and your Emma are soul mates—just as the Viking and his Sookie are soul mates."_

 _Hunter breathed a sigh of relief but then looked up at the A.P. with concern. "Grandma Brit, what did you mean by earning her? Please tell me what I have to do. I can't lose her."_

 _The A.P.'s expression darkened a little. "Then you will have to fight when you must, little one."_

 _"Whom will I have to fight?"_

 _She shook her head. "When I had the ability to see the future, I'm afraid that I never saw the who. But I_ do _know that you looked as you do now when your love was threatened."_

 _"But you also saw us with children—didn't you?" Hunter asked._

 _"Your father told you that?" she smirked._

 _"No," Hunter shook his head, "but Dad told Sam, and he thinks about them._ _Four_ _of them."_

 _"Did you tell your Emma?"_

 _"No," he frowned. "She knows that I want children with her, and she wants children with me. But I never told her that you saw them. I didn't know if I'd . . . ." He stopped midsentence._

 _"If you'd_ earned _them yet?" the A.P. finished for him._

 _He nodded._

 _The A.P. smiled at him sincerely. "You are wise and confident like your father, but you have more humility and compassion than my little cat. You likely got traits from your_ true _mother." She smiled proudly. "Yes—you are an excellent combination of both of your_ true _parents."_

" _Will I earn the right to be a parent like them?" Hunter asked. "Please. Tell me! What do I need to do?"_

 _"Sadly—like both of your parents—you are also lacking in patience sometimes," she said wryly. "But—yes—I believe you will_ earn _your Emma and your children. That was the thread that I liked most when I could see the future—and the one most likely to happen too—so that is the one I told your father about."_

 _"But it's not for certain," Hunter's said, his shoulders slumping._

 _"The future rarely is a certain thing," the A.P. admitted. "But there are things that_ _are_ _certain."_

 _"Like what?" Hunter asked a little crestfallen._

 _"You and your Emma have a strong love. You are a strong young man. She is a strong young woman."_

 _Hunter nodded. "She's stronger than I am," he said with surety. "She's_ better _than I am."_

 _The A.P. smiled. "I am glad that you think of your mate in that way. It is a sign that you_ likely _won't fuck things up."_

 _Hunter couldn't help but to smile. "The message you gave to Mom and Dad."_

 _She winked. "In truth, they are well beyond the stage where they would fuck things up with each other—at least not too badly! But I do so love to tease my little cat." She sighed. "I miss him. I miss you all."_

 _"We miss you too," Hunter said, his voice thick with emotion._

 _The A.P. wiped away a tear and studied it on her finger for a moment before speaking again. "When you were a child, I also told you that your life would contain many more times of happiness than sorrow. I told you that you would be loved by many and would love many in return."_

 _"I remember," Hunter returned._

 _"Sometimes the ones we love the most are responsible for hurting us the most—even if they do not mean to," she said sadly._

 _"Emma?" Hunter said with uncertainty._

 _"Her love for you will_ never _leave her, even if it seems as if she forgets for a while. Do you understand?" the A.P. asked, her tone now forceful._

 _"Forgets?" he returned with trepidation. "Am I gonna fuck something up?"_

 _She chuckled. "Most men eventually do. Even my Artegal gets underfoot at times, and I waited millennia to be with him again."_

 _"So you're with him? You're okay?" Hunter asked._

 _The A.P. smiled at him. "You are worried about me?"_

 _The teen nodded in confirmation._

 _"See—you have a good heart. And—even if you do 'fuck up'—your Emma will remember that heart. Do you understand?" she repeated._

 _"No," Hunter said honestly. "But I'll try."_

 _"Good," the A.P. nodded as she turned to go._

 _"Wait!" Hunter begged. "What is going to happen? How can I protect Emma if you don't tell me more?"_

 _The A.P. turned again and sat next to him on the bed._

 _"I once told my brother a story about a sparrow and a crow," she said._

 _"Grandpa Niall told it to me," Hunter relayed. "You saw a sparrow scare a crow away when it threatened the sparrow's nest—even though the crow was clever and stronger than the sparrow."_

 _"That's right," the A.P. said. "But I fear Niall left out the most important part of the story."_

 _"What was that?"_

 _"There were_ two _sparrows—a male and a female. A mating pair. The female bravely stayed in their nest and protected the eggs despite the crow's threat. She did not waver; she did not move. The crow tried to intimidate her, but she was steadfast."_

 _"What about the other sparrow?"_

 _The A.P. smiled. "He was off looking for food to feed his mate when the threat came. He must have heard the crow's call near his nest, so he flew back immediately. He shot his small body at that big crow as if he were a torpedo."_

 _"Did he hit the crow?" Hunter asked, fascinated by the added details to the story._

 _She shook her head. "No. The crow was startled but was able to move in time to avoid the sparrow's hit. But the sparrow flew at him again and again—until finally the crow flew away. The sparrow pursued him, but then something happened that I thought would mean the death to the nest."_

 _"What?" Hunter asked._

 _"Another crow came, even larger—even stronger—than the first," the A.P. shared._

" _Were the crows working together?" Hunter asked._

" _Yes. As the brave little sparrow was pursuing the first crow, the larger one neared the nest."_

 _"But the female sparrow didn't move—did she?" Hunter asked._

 _"No. She was ready to die for her eggs."_

 _"Did she—_ die _?" Hunter's voice broke, as he wondered if the A.P. was trying to tell him that Emma was like the female sparrow._

 _"No," the A.P. assured. "The male sparrow—sensing that there was a ploy to separate him from his mate—stopped his pursuit and returned to the nest. And when he returned, the noise that came from him was fiercer than even one of the Viking's battle cries. And the second crow turned and fled to join his confederate."_

 _Hunter tilted his head with curiosity. "Grandpa Niall didn't know that part of the story, did he?"_

 _The A.P. chuckled. "With my brother, it was always best to tell him_ only _what he needed to hear."_

 _"Grandpa Niall told me that story the night that I was waiting to hear if Mom—Sookie—had rescued Dad from Russell," Hunter said with a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered his fear from that time. "Emma was with me that day and night. So were you. But you didn't tell me the rest of the story then."_

 _She winked. "I didn't tell you the rest—then—because you had heard what you needed to hear."_

 _"There was only one crow then," Hunter said._

 _"Only one that could truly harm the nest. Yes."_

 _"But there is more than one now," Hunter said perceptively._

 _She smiled at him. "I have always had a nickname for you, little one, but I have never said it aloud."_

 _Hunter was a bit taken aback by her change of subject. "What is it?" he asked._

 _"Did I ever tell you about the first time I saw Godric?" she asked, changing the subject yet again._

 _Confused about the gaps in the conversation, Hunter shook his head. "No."_

 _"He was younger than you by many years when I first saw him. In fact, he was only six years old. That was your age when I first saw you."_

 _Hunter's head tilted again. "Why are you telling me this? Is it important that we were the same age?"_

 _"Maybe not," the A.P. chuckled. "But I have always been amazed by coincidences. Maybe they are the true magic in the world."_

 _She was silent for a moment, and her eyes seemed to cloud a bit._

 _"Grandma Brit?" Hunter asked uncertainly._

 _She focused back on him. "When I first saw him, Godric was not ready to be my vampire child. He had more life to live as a human, but I also didn't want to lose him as he moved around in the world. Sadly, my maker was still alive at the time, and I did not want Godric to be targeted by Appius, so it was unwise for me to keep too close of a watch on my Godric to ensure that I would find him again. I saw many possible threads of time involving my potential child, and in some of them, I never found Godric again; thus, your father was never made a vampire."_

 _Hunter shuddered at the thought of not having his father in his life. "What did you do?"_

 _She grinned. "I loaded the deck—so to speak—to ensure that the future_ I _preferred was the one most likely to happen."_

 _Realization hit Hunter. "You gave Godric your blood so you could eventually track him, didn't you?"_

 _She grinned proudly. "You are just as clever as your father; you two always did make a good pair." Her expression suddenly became serious. "Eric Northman_ is _your father, Hunter—in all ways that matter. In all ways that_ will _matter. He is your father and you are his son. Remember that."_

 _Her tone was so forceful that Hunter responded immediately. "I know he is."_

 _She seemed satisfied. "Tell your father what I have said. He will have an idea or two," she winked._

 _Once more she got up to leave._

 _"What was my nickname?" he asked._

 _"You know already," she said with a twinkle in her eyes._

 _"I_ think _I know," he said in a frustrated tone, "but it would be nice to get a direct answer from you—for once."_

 _She put her head back and laughed deeply. "From the first day I saw you in one of my visions, you have always been my favorite."_

 _Hunter rolled his eyes. "I once heard you tell my dad that_ he _was your favorite. And you still didn't answer the question."_

 _She waved off his first comment with a wave of her hand and a smirk. "Well—you two tie in your ability to amuse me, so it makes sense that you are_ both _my favorites."_

 _Hunter shook his head. "You still haven't answered."_

 _Her smirk disappeared from her face and she bent down to kiss his forehead. "Fly true,_ my sparrow _. The crows are coming."_

 _And with that, she was gone._

* * *

 **A/N: Well—I hope that you enjoyed reading about Hunter's dream. Remember—in this universe—the "Godric ghost" was a part (because I was working with the show's content through most of Season 4). Anyway, because of this, I figured it wouldn't be too odd for the AP to make an appearance, especially if it were in a dream.**

 **I hope that you will take the time to leave me a comment if you are still with me for this story. And—by the way—can I just say how much I appreciate it if you are! It means that you were with me for** _ **Back & Forth**_ **AND** _ **Come Back to Me**_ **too! And we all know the time commitment you must have given to that. LOL!**

 **Again, many, many thanks to you all.**

 **Until next week,**

 **Kat**


	9. Chapter 9: Motherly Care

**Chapter 09: Motherly Care**

Hunter woke up to the smell of coffee wafting under his nose.

"Hey, you," his mom said as he felt a bit of weight on the bed next to him. "It's almost 2:00 p.m., and your uncle Claude and Grandpa Niall just got to the realm. You told me you wanted me to wake you up when they got here."

"Emma awake yet?" Hunter asked in a gravelly voice as he sat up and took the coffee from his mom.

" _You_ are the sleepy head, mister man! Emma has been up for hours," his mom reported with a chuckle. "She's helpin' Lala and Kyle in the kitchen."

Hunter smiled. Kyle was the oldest of Lafayette and Jesus's adopted children, having turned seven the previous September. He was also a half-demon—and a powerful one at that. He could already light the grill with just his fingers. However, he was also a "daddy's boy"—in this case a "Lafayette boy." Thus, one thing was for certain. If Lafayette was cooking, then Kyle was helping—likely "smoking" vegetables with his inherent ability.

Lafayette was nothing is not _innovative_ with his helpers.

Sookie reached over and combed her son's unruly bangs to the side with her fingers. Since he'd been about fourteen, he'd liked to keep his naturally wavy hair a little long, so she knew that her battle would be a losing one, but she also knew that he would let her get away with little acts of affection right after he woke up, so she took advantage when she was able.

After he'd taken a few sips of his coffee, she saw his eyes cloud over with worry.

"What is it, Hunt?" she asked.

"A dream I had," Hunter answered.

Sookie could tell that he was troubled. "Wanna talk about it?"

Hunter nodded. "Yeah, but I want dad to hear, too."

Sookie's motherly instinct went into instant overdrive as she saw a deep frown etching its way onto her child's handsome face. It didn't matter in that moment that he was taller than her—or almost an adult. He was her little baby and he was clearly troubled.

And she was a mother lioness—even more than Miranda at times.

"I'll wake your dad up then," Sookie said firmly.

"You don't have to do that," Hunter said quickly. "He said he was gonna be up before sunset anyway since we're gonna have company. I'll talk to you both then—or when everyone leaves for the night. I don't know if I wanna tell Emma about it though. I don't wanna worry her. Plus, I promised Uncle Claude that I'd help him in the greenhouse today," Hunter hedged.

Sookie narrowed her eyes as she took in her son. "Hunter. Eric. Northman!"

"Uh-oh," came his response. He tried to smile a little, but he knew that three names equaled trouble.

"Don't you 'uh-oh' me, mister," Sookie said sternly. "I have two things to say to you right now, and I want you to open up that thick skull of yours so that you can hear them."

Hunter sat up straighter. Whenever his mom started numbering things, he knew that he needed to listen carefully. Not only was she one of the wisest people he knew, but he also knew that it wasn't pleasant—for anyone—when she was riled.

"First," she started, "it is obvious to me that something happened that has really troubled you, and that means we are _not_ gonna wait to deal with it."

Hunter sighed, but relented. "I know you're right."

"I know I am too," Sookie said with a sigh of her own. "I used to be the queen of putting things off, but that brought your father and me only heartache. I don't want that for you."

She reached out to pat his hand.

"What is the second thing?" Hunter asked after a moment.

"I have an important question to ask you," Sookie asked.

Hunter tilted his head—as he often did when he was waiting to receive information.

"Do you intend to make Emma your _equal_ partner in life? Do you intend to build your relationship upon mutual respect and trust?"

"Of course!" Hunter answered quickly.

Sookie smiled. "Good. In that case, you need to learn a lesson right now—a lesson that your father had to learn the hard way."

"What lesson?" Hunter asked.

"Did I ever tell you about the first time your dad kissed me?"

Hunter shook his head, wondering why every conversation he'd had lately seemed laced with _non sequiturs_.

"Uh—no," he said.

His mom looked toward the door and smiled the smile she reserved for his dad, so Hunter couldn't help but to smile with her.

"It happened in his office at Fangtasia. It was before I went to the Fae realm for the first time—before I lost that year I told you about." She sighed. "It was actually only a couple of days after I met you at the aquarium—remember?"

Hunter nodded. "Hadley brought me to meet you after she'd taken me from Remy."

Though Hunter still tried to refer to Hadley as "mother" or "mom" when he was in Dùraig, he'd stopped making such attempts when he was home. For a long time, Sookie had been his only mother, and—certainly—she'd been the only true one he'd ever known. He could acknowledge that Hadley had made an attempt, but that didn't change the reality of the situation. Sookie didn't need to "try" to love him like a son. And—to Hunter—that made her the mother of his heart.

 _His choice_.

"Yeah," Sookie confirmed as she tenderly touched Hunter's cheek. "I should have made sure you were safe then, baby boy," she added, as her eyes filled with tears.

Hunter shook his head. "How could you have? You didn't even know me, and Hadley took me away from Louisiana after that." Hunter took his mom's hand into his, hoping that she would feel the comfort he was offering. "It was just good to know that I wasn't alone—that I wasn't the only one who was a telepath. It was good to hear in my head that you loved me even though you'd never met me before, Mamma."

Sookie smiled and brushed away her tears with her free hand. "I love you, Hunt."

"I love you too, Mamma." He gave her his lop-sided grin. "So _dad_ kissed _you_ —huh?"

She smiled back. "Yeah. I was kind of with Bill Compton at the time."

Hunter's brow furrowed. He hated thinking of his mom with another man; plus, he still remembered the night that Bill Compton had wanted to kill his dad and kidnap him.

"I've traded up," Sookie smiled, ruffling Hunter's bangs. "Way up!"

Hunter nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, your dad was revving up to fight Russell Edgington for the first time, and he knew that he would likely die." She got a sad look on her face. "I'll never forget what he said right before he kissed me. He told me that if he met the true death without kissing me first, that would be his biggest regret."

"Wow," Hunter said with a lopsided smile, "he was smooth."

"Something like that," Sookie smirked. "Anyway, he _stole_ his kiss." She chuckled. "At first, I wasn't having any of it, but it didn't take long for me to be kissing him back like it was my last day on earth, too."

Hunter smiled. "Is that when y'all got together?"

Sookie shook her head. "No. Your sissy, Pamela, came in and interrupted us, and then when Eric came back, he tossed me over his shoulder and chained me up in the basement of Fangtasia like the high-handed vampire he is sometimes."

Hunter's eyes got big. "What? He did what?"

Sookie popped Hunter on the arm. "And _you_ are just like him!"

"Mamma?" Hunter asked, confused.

"You are just as high-handed as your father sometimes, Hunter Eric Northman. Your dad did what he did because he loved me—even back then. And he wanted to protect me. However, instead of telling me what his plan was with Russell and letting me know what part he needed for me to play in it, he locked me in that basement and confused the hell out of me! I mean," she grumbled to herself, "who gives a woman a kiss like _that_ and then locks her in the fuckin' dungeon?"

"Dad?" Hunter offered.

Sookie glared at her son, who looked so much like Eric at times that it was hard to remember that they weren't biologically related. "Yes! Your high-handed father had a plan to entrap Russell—to make him think that my blood would protect him from the sun. Your dad and Russell drank my blood against my will, and then Eric tricked Russell into going into the sun, where he handcuffed himself to Russell with silver." She shook her head. "If I hadn't pulled your father inside and given him more blood to heal, I would have lost him before we even got started."

"I didn't know all that," Hunter said quietly.

His mother sighed. "I know. Eric was willin' to die for me—and to keep things from me in order to protect me. But I _never_ wanted either of those things. I wanted him next to me—not away from me. But he had his plans, and he didn't tell me about them. If he had, we could have worked together that time and maybe even avoided having to deal with Russell again," she added pointedly.

Hunter was silent for a moment. "You're trying to tell me that I shouldn't keep things from Emma."

She chuckled. "Yeah, and I don't think I was being subtle about it either, Mister Man," she said, pinching his ticklish side, just to get him to squirm a little.

Hunter rolled his eyes.

Sookie was thoughtful for a moment. "It's okay to keep some things to yourself, Hunter—feelings you need to work through or surprises you have in mind for Emma. But—take it from me—don't avoid telling Emma the things that pertain to her safety or to yours. Don't avoid letting her _feel_ your fears with you, Hunt. She wouldn't want to be excluded." Sookie took a deep breath. "Don't try to keep her _behind_ you so that she won't see the danger that you are confronting. If you truly honor her, let her stand next to you as you face the world."

Hunter looked down at his hands and then took one of his mom's.

"You couldn't have picked a better partner for yourself, Hunt. But Emma will never be your true mate unless you let her be."

"Dad learned from his mistake," Hunter observed, raising his eyes and smiling at his mother.

"Yes, he did," Sookie confirmed. "But I want you to learn _before_ you make the same mistake."

Hunter sighed and then spoke with resolution. "Okay then. Let's wake up dad and get Emma. Then I'll tell you what's going on."

"Sounds like a plan," Sookie said as she rose. Just as the two left the room, however, Hunter dropped his now-empty coffee cup and gasped.

She turned to see the cup shattering on the floor next to Hunter's bare feet, causing small gashes to open up in them. Being a mother, she immediately bent down to tend to him, but her gaze was brought up to his face as he gasped again.

He looked as white as a sheet.

Immediately knowing something was wrong, Sookie dropped her mental shields and stretched out her telepathy. Breeta moved in front of them, and Batanya materialized from thin air to flank her daughter's side.

Just as the doorbell rang, Sookie's color drained from her face as well.

* * *

Eric Northman enjoyed what no other vampires he knew did. Oh—the daylight continued to draw him to his rest, but the _day_ no longer "killed" him.

Neither in literal nor figurative terms.

Because of his wife's fairy blood, which was an ever-present fixture in his own cells, as well as her Fae magic and the bonds that would forever connect him to his mate, he always felt at least somewhat "alive"—even when he slept—though he always awoke well-refreshed. And he could even dream when his wife pulled him into one of her dreams.

Indeed, he often spent his "sleep" making love to Sookie in dreams, only to wake up and crave her again.

Sookie had also given him back the sun in a very real sense. Though he couldn't stay in its rays indefinitely, he could "stay up" to greet the dawn or "awaken early" to enjoy the waning light of the late afternoon and dusk. Being an older vampire, he already had more control than most of his kind, and had been awakening before the sun had fully set for years—though he'd never been able to brave the orb's light.

Before Sookie.

Being awake when the sun was at full reign in the day's sky was still difficult for him—though not impossible. It just took away more of his energy, and it required more of his wife's magic, continuously "healing" him as his own magic weakened. Thus, he and Sookie had—long ago—decided that it would be best if he kept to their bedroom (with the light-tight shutters fully engaged) when the sun was at its strongest.

However, despite this practice, Sookie's anxiety shook Eric from his day-rest. He rocketed out of bed when two distinct scents hit his nose. One was a stranger right outside his home. And the other was his son's blood.

The vampire assessed that it was only 2:34 p.m.; however, his body and mind were fully alert as he quickly used the controls on his bedside table to ensure that all of the light-tight shades on the second floor were engaged.

Ignoring the fact that he was naked, Eric was in Hunter's room with his wife and child moments later. "You are hurt," he said to Hunter, as he bent down next to Sookie in order to examine the small cuts on his child's foot. They had been caused by a broken coffee cup.

"It's not bad," Hunter stammered, his face a study in astonishment.

"Who is at the door?" Eric asked both Hunter and Sookie.

It was Sookie who answered. "Remy Savoy."

Eric stood up and pulled Sookie to her feet, even as Hunter sat back onto the bed. The vampire was surprised to find out the identity of the visitor, but he was also bolstered by the fact that Remy must not intend them physical harm; otherwise, the wards would have kept him off of the property.

But that didn't mean that Remy Savoy couldn't cause other kinds of harm.

After all, he'd already caused Hunter and Sookie to feel anxiety, and the Viking wouldn't fucking tolerate that!

The vampire looked at Breeta as his soldier mentality snapped into place. "Call Miranda and have her sniff Remy's vehicle. If it was let through by the guards on the perimeter, then it is likely clean, but have her check it for passive tracking or surveillance devices—and for magic." Breeta nodded and snapped her phone open.

He looked at Batanya next. "Call Clovache. Emma is to be in the cubby and safe _before_ the next minute is up."

The Britlingen nodded and was quickly on her phone.

Eric pulled Sookie's phone out of her back jeans pocket and was dialing it the next second. "Jesus," he said into the receiver, "the person outside is Remy Savoy." Eric knew that Jesus would know who that was. "I don't know why he's here yet, but I want him searched _and_ kept outside of this house until you hear from me." Eric inhaled. "I smell that Henry, Tara, Kyle, Emma, and Lafayette are with you in the kitchen. Make sure the others are safe and then take Henry with you to confront Savoy. I can smell that Jarod is already with Mr. Savoy, but I need you to make sure that no magic has been used to help him to counteract your wards. Keep him distracted and keep him _outside_!"

Eric hung up without another word to his closest human friend and then picked up his son as if he were a small child—instead of a 6'2" young man. He gave Sookie a look, and the three of them went quickly into the master bedroom.

The vampire placed his child gently onto the couch and then quickly dressed.

Hunter had clearly been stunned into silence by the appearance of his birth father. And that shock had been followed by a kind of fear and insecurity that he'd not felt since he was a little child.

Recovering a bit from her own shock, Sookie ran into the bathroom and got a towel so that she could clean and wrap Hunter's feet. If the cuts were deep, she thought that she would heal them with her magic.

"No," came Hunter's voice, stopping his mother in her tracks before she reached the bathroom.

"Dad," he looked up at Eric, "I want _you_ to heal me with your blood."

Eric seemed a little surprised by his son's request. Hunter had never had his blood before, and he'd been hurt far worse than a few scrapes in the past. In fact, letting Hunter take vampire blood had been something that he and Sookie had adamantly avoided.

"Hunter?" Eric asked, knowing his son didn't make quick decisions without good cause—and also trusting in his boy's instincts.

Hunter took a deep breath. "I need to know that you would be able to find me—if I was ever lost."

Hunter closed his eyes. " _Like Grandma Brit and Godric,_ " he thought—but didn't say.

"But, Hunter," Sookie said, "you always have guards. We should talk about this first—the repercussions."

"You are sure that you can control your blood in me," Hunter looked up at Eric. "Sure that I won't have dreams or anything?"

"Absolutely sure," the vampire confirmed.

Sookie looked back and forth between father and son. She felt her husband's confidence and certainty through their bonds. And she heard Hunter's certainty with her telepathy. In truth, Eric had often talked about giving Hunter his blood so that he could track him in case of emergency, but they'd wanted for Hunter to reach adulthood before they gave him that choice.

Looking at the young man, Sookie recognized a simple truth: he was an adult.

Feeling his wife's encouragement through the bond, Eric's fangs popped down.

Immediately a growl was heard in the room.

A growl coming from Sookie.

And a pair of hands were aglow.

Aiming at Hunter.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Best,**

 **Kat**


	10. Chapter 10: Blood Tie

**Chapter 10: Blood Tie**

"Mom?" Hunter asked tentatively, looking at the source of the growl and the "fiery" hands.

Sookie blushed. "Sorry, Hunt. It's just that," her voice took on an edge, "he's _mine_ ," she growled, looking at her vampire.

In turn, Eric turned and looked at his wife. His eyes had lit up to a fiery blue, and he was next to her in less than a second. Their lips crashed together.

"Ahem," Hunter cleared his throat about a minute later—right before it looked like clothing might be lost between his parents. They had raised him not to be ashamed of sexuality, but that didn't mean he wanted to see either of them naked. "Should I—uh—give you guys a few minutes?" he asked.

Becoming even redder than before, Sookie pulled away from her mate. "No, Hunt. I'm okay now."

Eric was holding her cheeks in his large hands and looking at her intently. "It will take only a few drops of blood, and it will not be the same as it is with you, min kván."

"I know," she said as his forehead touched hers. "I'll—uh—just go get a washrag so that we can clean his feet after you are done," she added with resolve.

"That would be best," Eric agreed as he let go of his wife and turned once more to his son.

"Mom's not gonna hurt me, is she?" Hunter asked with a little laugh.

"Only if you get blood on my bedspread, mister man!" she yelled from the bathroom.

Eric grinned and sat down next to his son. "Mister man," he chuckled. "Your mother does come up with the most charming labels."

"Don't think I don't hear you, buster!" she yelled.

Father and son smiled at each other.

"What was all that about?" Hunter asked, whispering so softly that only his father would be able to hear him.

"Your mom just needed a little reassurance about the fact that I will always belong _only_ to her, no matter who has my blood," he answered quietly.

Hunter nodded.

"In truth, it is difficult for me to give you my blood, too," the vampire admitted.

"Dad, you don't have to," Hunter said.

"I think I _need_ to, son. I think you have a good reason for wanting me to."

Hunter nodded.

Eric made a small bite into his wrist. "It will take only a few drops," the vampire said.

Hunter nodded and bent over his father's wrist. With no indecision, he took two pulls from the wound before swiping the back of his hand over his mouth as if he'd just taken a drink of orange juice.

Hunter smiled a little as he looked down to see his feet healing. "That's _too_ cool," he observed, "but it was pretty bland-tasting—to tell you the truth."

Eric laughed. "I told you that I could control my blood—including the taste. What you took was purely functional. I healed you and I can track you now, but beyond that, you will feel no effects, nor will I."

Hunter nodded, his eyes showing both his trust and his relief.

Sookie came back from the bathroom looking much more in control. In fact, she looked a little excited.

"What?" Hunter asked as his mom approached him with a warm rag and started tending to the blood smears on his feet.

"I think she is excited because she can feel you too," Eric observed.

"Really?" Hunter asked.

"Yep!" Sookie confirmed. "I don't know if I could track you, but I feel a buzz from you." She stood up and kissed both of her boys: Hunter on the forehead and Eric on the lips. "I like bein' able to feel that you are _both_ okay."

"So you're not gonna hurt me for takin' dad's blood?" Hunter asked with a laugh.

Sookie grinned sheepishly. "Nope."

"Okay," Eric said as he brought Sookie onto his lap, where she nuzzled against him. "Now that _that's_ been established, let's talk about Remy and what's to be done with him."

* * *

Both of the telepaths tried to "read" Remy.

"He's pissed off that he's not being let in," Hunter said.

"Language, mister," Sookie chastised. "But Hunter's right. He is getting anxious down there, and he's worried. He's growing more and more impatient."

"I don't care about his level of patience," the vampire said. "He will wait until we are ready."

"Remy's got a lot of holes in his head," Hunter said pensively. "I've never 'heard' anything like it."

"He's been glamoured— _a lot_ ," Sookie clarified.

Eric nodded. "Pam and Jessica glamoured him soon after Hunter came here."

Hunter narrowed his eyes in question. "Why?"

Eric answered simply. "You know already."

"I didn't want to live with him; you told me—before you even brought me here—that I could stay with you as long as I wanted," Hunter said softly.

"Yes," Eric said as he put his hand on his son's arm. "But I still checked out Remy Savoy back then. If he had changed for the better, I wanted you to have," he paused, "the option if you ever changed your mind and wanted to know him."

"But he hadn't changed," Hunter said more than asked.

"No. Remy had taken to drinking again. In his drunkenness, he began to speak about you in bars—to speak of your ability." Eric shook his head. "After I learned that, I had Pam and Jessica glamour him so that he would drop the kidnapping charges against Hadley and no longer seek you in any way. I had thought that the situation was contained, but Compton learned you were telepathic through people Remy had told before he was glamoured to no longer speak of you." Eric sighed and continued, "After that, I wanted to kill Savoy myself."

"But you didn't," Hunter observed. "You didn't because you love me."

The vampire nodded.

Hunter smiled at him. "I love you, too, Dad."

"Then—a few years later—I sent Pam and Jessica back when we needed for Remy to officially sign away his rights to you in order for Sookie and me to be able to adopt you without any delays." Eric shook his head. "Glamouring was not needed that time, according to Pam."

Sookie took Hunter's hand in comfort and then looked at Eric seriously. "Someone has glamoured him recently and extensively. I think I can repair _some_ of what has been done in order to try to figure out who did it and why."

Eric considered for a moment.

Hunter whispered, "The crow."

Sookie and Eric both looked at him, wondering what he was talking about.

"Crow?" Eric asked.

"Emma," Hunter stated, looking at Sookie. "She should be here while we decide what to do with Remy."

Sookie nodded and made a call to Clovache. "You are in the cubby?"

There was a pause as Sookie closed her eyes in order to make sure that Remy was still outside. "Bring Emma up here."

Eric looked at his wife with curiosity as she hung up. "Shouldn't she remain there? Protected?"

Sookie narrowed her eyes at her husband.

"Earlier today, I told Hunter about the first time you kissed me," she said.

For a moment, Eric's face took on a dreamy aspect. "Your hair was in a ponytail. You were wearing that gray Bon Temps high school t-shirt and _those shorts_." He growled a little. "Gods, you were irresistible!"

She popped his arm—both with a light punch and a little ball of her light. "I _also_ told him about your high-handedness and the lesson you had to learn the hard way."

Realization hit the vampire, and he nodded even as he winked over at Hunter. "Yes—do _not_ leave your mate in the dark, especially if she will have an eternity to nag you about it."

Sookie popped him again, though she grinned right after and then wrapped her arms around her vampire mate's neck. "You're gonna like bein' nagged for eternity though. Admit it."

"I admit to nothing," Eric said dramatically as Emma walked into the room. Clovache made sure that all was well before leaving.

Hunter got up and led Emma over to the little couch in the room, while Eric moved a chair to face the couch and then pulled Sookie onto his lap. Hunter took Emma's hand.

"What's goin' on Hen?" Emma looked up at Hunter, calling him the nickname she generally used only when she was nervous or worried about something.

Sookie and Eric had both heard it before and knew it stood for Hunter's initials.

"We have a visitor," Hunter said. "Actually, I have a visitor."

"Who is it?" Emma asked.

"Remy Savoy, my birth father," Hunter replied quietly.

Emma's eyes immediately glowed yellow and she went to stand up. "Then I'll be right back—right after I go kick his ass and go all cheetah on him!"

Hunter pulled her arm and then pulled her onto his lap. "Em," he said in the tone that could always calm her, "he was glamoured to come here."

"Hen, he hurt you." Hunter had told her all about the way Remy Savoy had treated him, and a tear slipped from her eye. "And he wanted to hurt you even more." Her voice turned into a growl, "I'll fuckin' kill him."

"Em," Hunter said cautiously, "there's more to talk about here than Remy, and I need you to," he paused, "stay in the nest."

She looked at him with confusion as her eyes went from gold to bronze to caramel to their usual shade of chocolate. "Hen?"

"I had a dream last night," Hunter said, looking at all those gathered around him.

"What about?" Emma asked.

"It was more of a _who_ than a what," Hunter reported. He looked at Eric. "It was the A.P."

Eric closed his eyes. For more than a decade, he'd been able to keep his family safe as he'd maintained peace in Area 5. And, where he'd not been able to act, Thalia—who was still the Queen of Louisiana and who still maintained her main residence across the graveyard from them—had.

Indeed, the Viking had crushed all potential threats. But he knew from Hunter's eyes that some news was coming that he would not like.

The vampire scoffed. It figured that the A.P. would break the laws of existence in order to warn them of that news. She'd done it before, after all.

"What did the old bat want?" Eric asked, his voice dueling between mirth and worry.

"She wasn't old in the dream; she was young and beautiful," Hunter said.

Eric smiled a little. "You will have to tell your grandfather Niall about that."

Hunter nodded, and then he launched into a full description of his dream. He reminded his dad and told his mom and Emma about the A.P.'s words to him the first night she'd met him more than a decade before. He told them about her story about the sparrows and the crows. He told them about what she'd said about Godric, even though he could see the pain in his father's eyes at the mention of his maker. Most difficultly, he told them about what the A.P. had said about trusting in Emma's love—even if she seemed to forget it.

Indeed, he left nothing out.

When he was done, everyone in the room was silent for several moments.

A loud slap onto Hunter's arm broke that silence.

"Ouch!" Hunter said.

"You _don't_ need to earn my love, you dumbass!" Emma proclaimed. "You already have it—a million times over!"

Hunter's smile lit up his face as he pulled her to him and kissed her fully on the lips.

Sookie and Eric sat quietly as the teens did what they needed to do in order to feel connected, which was apparently kiss each other's lips off.

Sookie turned her head from them and looked into her husband's crystalline blue eyes. She spoke directly into their bond. "What are you thinking?" she asked him.

"I am thinking that Hunter has the right idea," he said before capturing his own wife's lips with his. He didn't let them go until he heard giggling from Emma.

"At least you come by your reactions to things honestly," Emma said, jabbing Hunter in his ribs teasingly.

Hunter looked proud as he and his dad shared a knowing look.

"Stop preening," Sookie admonished with a slap to Eric's arm.

"Such abuse we must endure from our women," Eric said to Hunter in a longsuffering tone.

Sookie looked as if she might pop Eric again when Hunter spoke. "So?" he asked the room in general.

"So," Eric said his tone turning serious once more, "I believe that you are right about Remy being sent by whoever this 'crow' is. He looked at Sookie and then at Hunter. Can either of you tell what Remy is thinking now? Or what his current agenda may be?"

Sookie tensed. "He is here with a court order, which requires a social worker to do a visitation to make sure Hunter's environment is safe. He is _trying_ to reclaim his rights as Hunter's father."

Eric contemplated for a few moments. "But he officially signed those rights away years ago— _before_ Hunter was adopted." He grabbed Sookie's phone—since he'd not taken his off of the charger when he'd dressed—and quickly dialed Desmond Cataliades. He briefly explained Remy's appearance and then put the phone on speaker. He looked at his wife. "Tell Mr. Cataliades all that he needs to hear."

Sookie took a deep breath. "Desmond, Remy's been glamoured. That much is perfectly clear. He truly thinks that he's tryin' to protect Hunter by coming here. I can't get an image of who sent him, but I'm getting the distinct impression that it was a vampire. And he has some documents that he thinks give him the right to visit Hunter and to check on his condition here. He believes they are from a judge."

Cataliades seemed to be shuffling papers. "Whatever he thinks he has is likely not legal. You two adopted Hunter years ago. Remy has no right to him."

"Then he's been glamoured to think he has the right," Hunter said tensely.

"It's as if he thinks God was telling him to come here," Sookie added with a shake of her head. "He has it in his mind that he needs to rescue Hunter from the 'heathen vampire.'"

"Ah—that would be me," Eric said toothily.

Fangily.

"Is Tara there now?" the demon lawyer asked. Though Desmond Cataliades had remained the Northmans' primary attorney, Tara had started working with him on several clients—including the Northmans—after she'd passed the bar exam. Of course, Desmond was well aware that Tara and Henry still lived on the _æ_ _tt land_ , though the couple did travel a lot.

"Yes," Eric responded.

"Good. I will call her and tell her what to look for in the paperwork. But try not to be concerned; I can't see how this could amount to much," Mr. Cataliades finished before hanging up.

"Remy is a distraction then," Eric said.

"Likely," Sookie agreed. "Whoever this _crow_ is wants us to be worried about other things—so that we miss the real threat."

Hunter shook his head. "I think the crow wants to hurt me _personally_ too." He sighed. "And—remember—in the story, there is more than one crow."

Sookie spoke up. "I think I can figure out more from Remy's head, but I need to be touching him."

Eric nodded in agreement, though he hated the thought of Sookie touching anyone.

The vampire still had Sookie's phone, so when it rang, he answered it, though he quickly put it on speaker mode.

"Miranda, have you discovered anything?" he asked.

"I have heard a bug on Savoy. From the sound of it, I believe it to be passive and its signal is quite faint. But it is there," she said. "It activates whenever he speaks or is spoken to."

"And his vehicle?" Eric asked.

"A similar device. It is passive in nature—to be sure—but I am certain that it is transmitting the vehicle's position. And it is likely able to pick up sounds in its vicinity as well."

"Do we even know how Remy got through the gate? How he got as far as the house without the guards calling us?" Emma asked astutely.

Certainly, the wards were the first line of defense on the property; however, Emma was right: generally the guards would have phoned the main house before letting anyone unknown to them pass.

"I smell magic," Miranda said. "It is faint, but it has clung to Savoy. However, I cannot know for certain if it helped him to pass through the wards or by the guards—or both."

"Perhaps Jesus will be able to tell us more about the magic, and we can call Amelia if needed," Eric said with a proud paternalistic smile in Emma's direction.

Hunter looked at his mate proudly as well; she'd asked an obvious question that none of the rest of them had asked up until then.

After hanging up on Miranda, the vampire quickly dialed Claude, who had planned to be at his cottage for a part of the day.

"Tanah," Claude said.

"No. It's me."

"Why are you awake at this hour?" Claude asked, concern immediately flooding his tone.

"Come up to the main house," the vampire said. "Remy Savoy—Hunter's sperm donor—has shown up here. Miranda has smelled magic on him."

"Where is he?" Claude growled.

"On the front porch," Sookie said into the speaker phone.

"Being detained while we plan," Hunter added.

"Claude, Remy has been bugged, according to Miranda. I need for you to join the others and then take Remy toward the cemetery. There, I want you all to remove his clothing piece by piece until Miranda is certain that there are no further surveillance devices on him and you and Jesus are certain that he has no magic on him that could harm Sookie if she gets close to him," Eric reported.

"And he's just gonna let them do that without makin' a fuss?" Sookie asked.

"I'm sure Henry, Claude, Jesus, and Jarod will come up with a way to make him compliant. And if they do not, Miranda will be there for back-up," Eric said with a little grin. "You or I can erase the episode from his memories later."

"My ninja family," Sookie smirked, shaking her head.

"My Jedi wife," Eric teased as he kissed her nose.

"So, what's the plan for after they find the bug?" Emma asked.

"Well," Eric answered, "we'll bring him into the house—inside the confines of the privacy spell. And Sookie will find out all that we can from Remy—by trying to repair some of the damage caused by the glamouring. Then, she's gonna convince him that he did _exactly_ what he came here to do with her Jedi mind-trick thing."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this is coming to you later than usual. And I have some potentially bad news too. I might have to put this story on hiatus for a bit. With the holidays, other projects, and the lack of a muse for this story, I don't have any more chapters "banked" for this story, though some are drafted. Because of this, there might be a delay. I'm so sorry. Complicating matters are some extra migraines that I've had lately. I hope I won't have to leave you hanging at all, but I just wanted to alert you to the possibility.**

 **That said, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving if you are in the States.**

 **Best,**

 **Kat**


End file.
